Skip to main content

AVs for seniors from Via in New South Wales

Autonomous vehicle (AV) developers seem to targeting ‘closed’ communities such as retirement complexes or universities and Via is also joining this trend. The company has launched a free AV service called BusBot for a retirement community in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. In partnership with local bus operator Busways, Transport for NSW and EasyMile, BusBot is operating in the Marian Grove Retirement Village in Toormina, a suburb of Coffs Harbour. Via says its technology allows the vehicle
July 18, 2019 Read time: 2 mins

Autonomous vehicle (AV) developers seem to targeting ‘closed’ communities such as retirement complexes or universities and Via is also joining this trend.

The company has launched a free AV service called BusBot for a retirement community in New South Wales (NSW), Australia.

In partnership with local bus operator Busways, Transport for NSW and 8246 EasyMile, BusBot is operating in the Marian Grove Retirement Village in Toormina, a suburb of Coffs Harbour.

Via says its technology allows the vehicle to navigate to virtual bus stops, allowing passengers to share trips without lengthy detours.

Daniel Ramot, co-founder of Via, says AVs need to be shared by multiple people to reach their full potential.

“Via’s sophisticated systems are able to power, in real time, the movement of millions of connected autonomous shuttles and their passengers,” Ramot adds.

Each vehicle can carry up to 15 people and travel at around 10km/h. Users can access the service from the BusBot app.

Last month, Via launched an on-demand %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 link-external shared transit system false https://www.itsinternational.com/categories/utc/news/via-offers-on-demand-shared-transit-for-massachusetts-seniors/ false false%> for people over the age of 60 in the City of Newton, Massachusetts.

UTC

Related Content

  • August 15, 2019
    Detroit introduces unified bus payment system
    Detroit authorities have launched a ticketing scheme to encourage bus ridership – a new venture which dovetails with existing initiatives to improve mobility, Ben Spencer reports The Detroit Department of Transportation (DDoT) has partnered with the Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation (SMART) to launch a unified payment system – called Dart - for the US region’s buses. Detroit’s mayor Mike Duggan says: “Dart will bring our two systems closer together with seamless transfers and more f
  • February 6, 2019
    Lime brings renewable operations to France
    Lime’s scooters and warehouses in France will be powered by local, solar and small hydro projects in a bid to advance clean micro mobility in Europe, the firm says. The move stems from a three-year agreement with Planète Oui, an electricity provider which supplies 100% local and renewable energy. As part of the deal, Lime’s ‘Juicer’ partners which join Planète Oui will receive a free three-month subscription to the service and an additional 20% discount on their monthly subscription thereafter. J
  • March 19, 2018
    RobotTuner explores autonomous accreditation at Intertraffic
    A newcomer at this year’s Intertraffic is RobotTuner which is displaying software for monitoring and remote control of autonomous vehicles and its simulation software for assessing object detection and classification safety systems. At Intertraffic it will highlight the ‘Digital driving license’ project it is undertaking with the Netherlands Vehicle Authority and the Netherlands Driver Exam Authority. The project aims to establish new methodology for the certification and type approval of autonomous
  • April 17, 2018
    Georgia approves regional transit authority for metro Atlanta
    The US state of Georgia is to establish a regional transit governance and funding framework for metro Atlanta. A new entity, called the Atlanta-region Transit Link Authority (ATL), will be created and charged with regional transit planning for 13 counties in metro Atlanta. By 2023, the region’s transit systems, including MARTA, CobbLinc, Gwinnett County Transit and GRTA’s Xpress service, will operate under the ATL brand name. More than 60% of commuters in the region travel to a different county to work, a