HMI Technologies announces first autonomous bus to operate in NZ

In breaking news from the ITS World Congress, HMI Technologies announced that New Zealand's first autonomous bus will soon be operating at Christchurch airport. Following meetings at Intertraffic in Amsterdam and consequent conversations with engineers, HMI decided to purchase the vehicle from French manufacturer NAVYA. According to HMI’s Dean Zabrieszach, the announcement has already generated plenty of interest.
October 11, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
From left to right: Henri Coron of Navya, Ahmed Hikmet and Dean Zabrieszach

In breaking news from the ITS World Congress, 8502 HMI Technologies announced that New Zealand's first autonomous bus will soon be operating at Christchurch airport.

Following meetings at Intertraffic in Amsterdam and consequent conversations with engineers, HMI decided to purchase the vehicle from French manufacturer 8379 NAVYA. According to HMI’s Dean Zabrieszach, the announcement has already generated plenty of interest.

“Obviously, we’ve worked closely with Christchurch airport on this project but we’ve already received enquiries from other airports, government bodies and universities, all of which are keen to examine the potential for this technology,” said Zabrieszach.

“We’ve been watching the implementation of autonomous vehicles around the globe and we felt the best way for people to understand this technology, was to bring a unit to NZ.”

The NAVYA ARMA is electric and autonomous, it carries 12 passengers at a time and features multi-sensor technologies for accident prevention.

“The local regulations make it easier to test the NAVYA and we’ll let customers conclude just how much potential this technology has.

"Having the unit in NZ will also enable us to really understand the potential autonomous vehicles will have for our business,” he said.

Related Content

  • January 26, 2012
    Bringing V2I and V2V communications to workzone safety
    Imran Hayee of the University of Minnesota Duluth's Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering talks about efforts to bring V2I and V2V communications into work zones. With USDOT backing and under the auspices of the ITS Joint Program Office Connected Vehicle Research (formerly IntelliDrive) research programme, M. Imran Hayee of the University of Minnesota Duluth's Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering along with team of his students, have been conducting research into the application of
    Read More
  • August 7, 2020
    Redflex: ‘Consistency of enforcement will drive compliance’
    Mark Talbot, CEO of Redflex Holdings, puts himself in the ITS International hotseat to answer questions about leveraging technology, MaaS changes and new areas of business
    Read More
  • October 28, 2019
    Why Netflix could overcome road pricing resistance
    As the US moves towards a national road usage charging trial, education is paramount – and subscription services like Netflix might help people understand why the money is needed, writes Bill Cramer
    Read More
  • April 5, 2024
    A coalition of the willing: iATL
    A living lab on the streets of Georgia, US, is helping to improve traffic safety by real-world deployments of technology. ITS International talks to the founder and some of the partners at the Infrastructure Automotive Technology Laboratory
    Read More

Highlighted Content