Optimus Ride Shuttles Take to the Streets of Brooklyn
While residents of California, Washington D.C., Arizona, and Texas have all seen self-driving vehicles on the road, New York City has missed out on the fun — until now. Although New York City passed a bill authorizing testing of self-driving vehicles on public roads, there hadn’t been any activity until Boston-based startup Optimus Ride decided that Brooklyn was a prime spot to roll out its autonomous shuttles.
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Transforming urban design
If you’re wary of self-driving vehicles, don’t worry — these robots in disguise won’t run free throughout Brooklyn. The Optimus Ride shuttles will operate within a geo-fenced area in the 300-acre Brooklyn Navy Yard. The integration of Optimus Ride shuttles is part of an initiative to modernize the historic shipyard, which dates back to 1801. While it was once used to build ships for the American Civil War and World War II. Nowadays, it’s home to numerous manufacturing businesses and hosts about 8,500 employees.
Optimus Ride has high hopes that its shuttles will change the urban landscape. According to CEO Ryan Chin, shared autonomous vehicles could eliminate the need for huge parking lots, allowing that valuable real estate to be used productively.
More than meets the eye
Optimus Ride Neighborhood Electric Vehicles can hold four to six passengers and travel at a maximum speed of 25 mph. Interestingly, the company’s technology is “vehicle agnostic,” meaning that it can potentially integrate into anything from a peppy Camaro to a massive Peterbilt 379 truck.
Other Optimus Ride shuttles are currently operating in Boston’s Seaport area. Later this year, the shuttles will arrive in the Paradise Valley 80-acre retirement community in Fairfield, California, and at a mixed-use development project in Reston, Virginia. If you’re in the Brooklyn Naval Yard area, you won’t have to wait long — these autonomous bots will roll out in the second quarter of 2019.
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Sources: Yell Robot, Optimus Ride
Kimiko Kidd is a native Daytonian. She graduated from Wright State University with degrees in environmental science and sociology. She loves her trusty old Honda Civic, but dreams of owning a 1974 Ford Falcon XB with a custom paint job and a vintage Kawasaki Z1000. In her free time, Kimiko can be found watercolor-painting, baking muffins, collecting rocks, playing old-school Nintendo games, writing her novel, sewing stuffed animals, and cosplaying as her favorite Mad Max characters. See more articles by Kimiko.