During the groundbreaking of Halley Rise, a new $1.4 billion mixed-use district in Reston, Virginia, on Monday, Oct. 7, self-driving vehicle tech company Optimus Ride showcased its self-driving shuttles and provided attendees with a chance to experience the technology firsthand.

Global real estate services company Brookfield Properties selected Optimus Ride to provide “safe, efficient, autonomous transportation” to Halley Rise office tenants traveling within the campus. In just five weeks of its service being in effect at Halley Rise, Optimus Ride has already provided 15,000 rides using its autonomous vehicles.

“We are excited to continue working with Brookfield to expand our autonomous systems throughout the Halley Rise development and to the new Reston Town Center Metro Station when it opens in 2020,” says Dr. Ryan Chin, CEO and cofounder of Optimus Ride. “Optimus Ride’s partnership with Brookfield Properties demonstrations the value self-driving systems can add to new developments throughout the country.”

Based in Boston, Optimus Ride’s shuttles currently operate in four states, including its home state of Massachusetts, Virginia, New York and California. The company’s Level 4 autonomous vehicles are designed to operate in geofenced areas such as industrial and office parks, military and academic campuses, and airports, providing first -and last-mile connectivity to public transit. 

“We believe that self-driving vehicles can provide that environmental benefit to reduce the number of private, internal combustion vehicles that are on the road,” Chin said during the groundbreaking. “So, if you can create the system that connects people from their building to the Reston Town Center new metro station, you will encourage new forms of more sustainable transportation.”  

Chin notes that the value of the vehicles is not just in the mobility, but in time saved, as the company has estimated that the average rider of its system will save at least one week per year.

“Just imagine if you had an extra week back in your life at the end of the year,” Chin said, noting that as the Halley Rise development gets larger and expands to the metro, the time saved could potentially increase to two weeks.

Through its partnership with Brookfield, Optimus Ride is confident it can be one of the premier providers of autonomous service, as well as autonomous readiness, for developers.

“As you design a campus, you can think of it from the perspective of an autonomous vehicle,” Chin said, “as opposed to trying to retrofit. And by doing that, you can design the streets differently, and design the roads differently.

“Autonomous planning and readiness is very critical, especially in the planning phases of any development. And we can provide that by saving millions of dollars in excess parking and other things that we put in that you have to change later.”