The City of Arlington, Texas recently launched the Arlington RAPID pilot program, the first in the U.S. to integrate on-demand autonomous vehicles into an existing public transportation service.
The City of Arlington is operating RAPID (Ride-share, Automation, and Payment Integration Demonstration) in partnership with Via, May Mobility, and UT Arlington through a grant provided by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA).
The goal of the Arlington RAPID project is to provide a blueprint for combining on-demand ride-share and autonomous technologies to develop effective, efficient, safe, and accessible transportation for all riders. In addition to improving public transportation options in Arlington, lessons learned from Arlington RAPID will be shared widely to help other communities throughout the nation seeking to combine ride-share and autonomous technologies.
“The City of Arlington continues to be at the forefront of transit innovation, building on the launch of one of the nation’s first micro-transit systems with a self-driving vehicle platform that is fully integrated into the public transit network,” Daniel Ramot, co-founder and CEO of Via, said in a statement. “We are proud to expand Via’s long-term relationship with the City as we offer residents an exciting new way to use public transportation.”
Via’s technology will power booking, routing, passenger and vehicle assignment and identification, customer experience, and fleet management, in coordination with May Mobility’s expertise in autonomous vehicle technology. May Mobility is providing the fleet of five autonomous vehicles.
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SOURCE: City of Arlington, Texas
