Optimus Ride launches AV service at Brooklyn Navy Yard

Optimus Ride is operating an autonomous vehicle (AV) service at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York and expects to transport more than 16,000 passengers per month. The 300-acre industrial park has more than 400 manufacturing businesses and 10,000 employees on site. Dr. Ryan Chin, Optimus co-founder, says the system will “provide access to and experience with autonomy for thousands of people, helping to increase acceptance and confidence of this new technology”. Optimus is operating six AVs between the NY
August 27, 2019 Read time: 2 mins
Optimus Ride is operating an autonomous vehicle (AV) service at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York and expects to transport more than 16,000 passengers per month.


The 300-acre industrial park has more than 400 manufacturing businesses and 10,000 employees on site.

Dr. Ryan Chin, Optimus co-founder, says the system will “provide access to and experience with autonomy for thousands of people, helping to increase acceptance and confidence of this new technology”.

Optimus is operating six AVs between the NYC Ferry Stop at Dock 72 and the Yard’s Cumberland Gate at Flushing Avenue.

Initially, a safety driver and software operator will remain onboard when the vehicle is in operation. Each vehicle will be able to carry up to four passengers on a loop between the dock and Cumberland Gate. During weekends, the service will run between the dock and Building 77.

The deployment comes as the yard undergoes a $1 billion expansion, which is expected to increase jobs in the area from 10,000 to 20,000 by 2021.

Additionally, the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation (BNYDC) announced a $2.5 billion plan to create 10,000 additional jobs in manufacturing buildings, bringing the total number to 30,000 in coming decades. BNYDC will also aim to provide improved lighting and streets to make the area more pedestrian and cyclist-friendly.

Related Content

  • December 2, 2022
    Kapsch flows free in France
    New toll system on A79 set to process 15,000 vehicles per day along 88km stretch
    Read More
  • February 2, 2015
    Cycling in London grows by ten per cent
    London’s cycling revolution accelerated last year, with 2014 seeing new records for usage of the capital’s cycle hire scheme and overall cycling on the Transport for London (TfL) road network. Across the TfL road network, London’s main roads, cycling levels in quarter 3 of 2014/15 (14 September to 6 December) were ten per cent higher than in the same quarter the previous year and the highest since records began in 2000. It was the fifth record quarter in a row. By the end of 2014/15, TfL forecasts a 12 p
    Read More
  • May 17, 2019
    Perfect Data launches ride-hailing app in UK
    Perfect Data has launched a ride-hailing app across the UK which it says will provide local authorities with a map of all vehicles operating in their areas. Darren Tenney, founder of Perfect Data, says Xooox [pronounced ‘Zooks’] will allow regulators to see what’s happening at street level. “At last they will have the power to take action against unlicensed, banned or out of jurisdiction drivers,” he continues. “This will not only help keep passengers safe, it will help protect the income of the hundred
    Read More
  • March 6, 2020
    Dubai RTA signs BeemCar ‘sky pod’ deal
    Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has its sights set on higher things than cars.
    Read More

Highlighted Content