Boston based self driving venture Motional, owned by Hyundai and Aptiv, and public transport specialist Via are partnering to launch a platform for public, on-demand shared robotaxi rides. The partnership’s first service is expected to launch in one of Motional’s existing US markets in the first half of 2021.

The partnership aims to connect Motional’s self-driving vehicles with Via technology which provides booking, routing, passenger and vehicle assignment and identification, customer experience, and fleet management. 

The two companies are aiming for a highly-integrated, and autonomous, shared-ride system. The rider app will feature local public transit information, encouraging connection to local transit hubs through the service.

Via and Motional are working closely on protective measures — such as PPE, partitions, frequent sanitising, contact tracing, and more — to ensure the health and safety of vehicle occupants.  These protective measures will follow public health and government guidelines.

“This partnership comes at an especially significant moment, as COVID reshapes our views on transportation and consumers demand more, flexible, and varied options,” said Karl Iagnemma, President and CEO, Motional.  “We’re thrilled to partner with Via and jointly lay the foundations for self-driving shared rides.  This is another step towards driverless technology reaching its full potential.”

“We are excited to partner with Motional to make autonomous shared ride programmes an affordable and efficient transportation alternative to the private vehicle,” said Daniel Ramot, Via co-founder and CEO. “By combining ground-breaking on-demand mobility solutions with best-in-class technology for self-driving vehicles, we are creating new and necessary transit options for communities around the globe.”

Motional vehicles comprise an established robotaxi fleet, and have conducted over 100,000 rides. Motional launched the world’s first public robotaxi pilot in Singapore in 2016.

Via has developed software that integrates with multiple AV providers to introduce shared, dynamically routed, on-demand transportation. Via has demonstrated its platform in Irvine, California for “BotRide”, and in integrated demonstrations with Navya and Aurrigo, and in its “BusBot” AV service in New South Wales, Australia.