by Brianna Crandall — February 20, 2019 — Optimus Ride, a self-driving vehicle technology provider, recently announced a partnership with Brookfield Properties to deploy a program for its self-driving vehicles at Halley Rise — a new $1.4 billion mixed-use development that will transform a 36-acre office park in Reston, Virginia, into 3.5 million square feet of new housing, dynamic local retail, modern offices, public green spaces, and year-round cultural activations.
Optimus Ride self-driving vehicles will increase safety and mobility within this new $1.4 billion mixed-use development in Reston, VA. Image courtesy Optimus Ride
Beginning in June 2019, Optimus Ride will provide tenants at buildings currently on the Halley Rise site (One Reston Crescent and Two Reston Crescent) with access to efficient self-driving mobility completely contained within the development site.
Dr. Ryan Chin, CEO and co-founder of Optimus Ride, stated:
We are pleased to announce our partnership with Brookfield, the world’s leading real estate developer. We will deploy our self-driving system at Brookfield’s Halley Rise location this summer to provide users with autonomous mobility access between office buildings as we continue to scale our business. In the future, we will advance our partnership by deploying our self-driving systems at additional Brookfield sites around the world.
Greg Meyer, executive vice president of Brookfield Properties, commented:
Brookfield is constantly exploring innovations that can improve the experience of our tenants. We are excited to engage with Optimus Ride to deploy this program in an effort to increase mobility and add convenience for our tenants in their day-to-day lives.
With this deployment, tenants will be able to use Optimus Ride’s reservation system and on-demand ride services. During the initial phase, a total of three self-driving vehicles will remain completely within the Halley Rise development site and transport tenants from their office buildings to parking lots at the site. An operations team on site will actively monitor the fleet service as well as provide maintenance, cleaning, charging and updating of the self-driving vehicle fleet.
Optimus Ride says it is committed to the goals of Vision Zero, a multinational road traffic safety initiative that aims to achieve a road network with no fatalities or serious injuries involving road traffic. Optimus Ride’s vehicles are programmed to adhere to Vision Zero speeds.
Directly adjacent to the new DC Metro Silver Line station in Reston slated to open in 2020, Halley Rise (an area formerly known as Reston Crescent) is expected to significantly enhance Reston’s downtown area with a new destination for people to live, work, dine, shop and socialize.
When fully completed by 2026, Halley Rise will bring a total of 1,500 residential units, 1.5 million square feet of office space, 250,000 square feet of retail, 5 acres of public open space, and brand-new public streets and infrastructure. Construction will begin mid-2019, with the first phase expected to be completed in 2022.
Brookfield Properties provides integrated services across the real estate investment strategies, combining modern office space, luxury residences, innovative retail, dining amenities, and active public spaces, with high-end design and advanced sustainability practices. Brookfield owns 40 commercial properties totaling 9.8 million square feet in the greater DC metro area, as well as properties around the world.
Optimus Ride says it is on a mission to transform mobility, using it to make positive changes in people’s lives and design sustainable cities, with goals ranging from providing equitable mobility access for all to delivering products more efficiently. The company develops self-driving vehicle algorithms, software, hardware, and system integration for mobility-on-demand solutions. The software and hardware can be integrated into any vehicle type.
Optimus Ride’s fully autonomous vehicles are suitable for industrial and office parks, military and academic campuses, smart cities, ports, airports, mixed-use private developments and other geofenced areas. With roots at MIT, the company’s team of outstanding industry experts works closely with the company’s clients to design networks and systems specifically for each environment, ensuring end-users reap all the benefits this technology has to offer.
