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 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:2External<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary />000link-external shared transit systemfalsehttps://www.itsinternational.com/categories/utc/news/via-offers-on-demand-shared-transit-for-massachusetts-seniors/falsefalse%> for people over the age of 60 in the City of Newton, Massachusetts.