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

  • China Yuchai announces new gas engine development project
    March 22, 2012
    China Yuchai International has announced that its main operating subsidiary, Guangxi Yuchai Machinery Company Limited (GYMCL) has inaugurated a new project to develop and produce a full portfolio of natural gas powered engines to complement its existing suite of diesel engines. In recent years, the policies of the Chinese government have encouraged energy conservation and emissions reduction.
    Read More
  • AVs need to be ‘100 to 1,000 times better than humans’, says Intel
    January 14, 2019
    Autonomous vehicles (AV) need to have a robotic system which is better than a human driver, because society will not accept machines killing people, according to Intel. Speaking at the Consumer Electronics Show 2019 in Las Vegas, Intel senior vice president Amnon Shashua said AVs probably need to be 100 to 1,000 times better than the human experience - which presents the question of how to validate such a system. “When you do your calculation, the amount of data you need to collect to verify somethi
    Read More
  • US pledges £250m aid to transit jobs
    June 23, 2021
    Transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg is allocating funds to projects in 31 US states
    Read More
  • Can AV mapping rely on crowds?
    June 29, 2021
    Mapping tech companies need to expand their data inputs beyond crowdsourcing in order to maintain temporally accurate maps at scale, says Ro Gupta at Carmera
    Read More

Highlighted Content