Self-driving shuttle cars will soon make their Big Apple debut.
The Boston-based startup Optimus Ride will deploy its first New York fleet within the Brooklyn Navy Yard during the second quarter of 2019, reports The Verge. The vehicles will run in closed loops around the yard and will primarily be used by over 8,000 yard workers. Optimus Ride will also be deploying vehicles in a retirement community in Northern California.
Optimus Ride's venture into the New York market marks the "first commercial self-driving vehicle deployment in the state of New York," according to the company. New York's autonomous vehicle market is still relatively untapped due to stricter regulations on vehicles, like the requirement of a police escort paid for by the operating company, reports The Verge.
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Plans for self-driving vehicles to hit Manhattan's streets were previously announced by General Motors, but they never came to fruition.
Optimus Ride's newly-announced deployments in New York and California will be the company's third and fourth fleets, following services in Boston and Reston, Virginia.
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