Navya SAS, a French start-up that makes driverless buses, yesterday said it plans to launch shuttle services in Kaohsiung next year.
Company executives told a Taipei news conference that they are in talks with the Kaohsiung City Government, hoping to begin trial operation of its ARMA model in the Hamasen (哈瑪星) area during the EcoMobility World Festival in October next year.
ARMA is able to transport up to 15 passengers at a time at speeds up to 45kph, the executives said.
Autonomous vehicles offer a higher frequency of transportation service and can reduce travel time and costs, they said.
Navya has formed a partnership with a local firm, 7starlake Consultant Co Ltd (喜門史塔雷克), to promote and distribute its autonomous vehicles in Taiwan.
The Taiwanese firm also supplies computer systems to Navya.
“We need local partners to work on negotiations with local governments, as restrictions are different [in different countries],” Navya vice president Henri Coron said on the sidelines of the news conference.
At present, autonomous cars are not allowed on Taiwan’s streets.
“We are now planning to first promote driverless cars in industrial parks or airports to comply with legal requirements,” 7starlake general manager Martin Ting (丁彥允) told reporters.
Navya is considering introducing its autonomous buses to companies at Taichung Gateway Park (水湳經貿園區) and the Taoyuan Aerotropolis (桃園航空城), Ting said.
Driverless cars can provide low-cost shuttle services for commuters who work in industrial parks or airports, as vehicles equipped with artificial intelligence are able to detect obstacles on roads and determine the best routes to take, he said.
The two-year-old Navya develops driverless electric and robotic vehicles with the aim of optimizing travel on private sites, including urban areas, industrial sites and airports, the company’s Web site says.
Navya raised US$34 million in fresh funds in October, with the capital coming from two strategic partners: automotive parts group Valeo and public transportation provider Keolis.
It has launched shuttle services in France and Australia.
Gogoro Inc (睿能創意) yesterday launched its first electric bicycle, the Gogoro Eeyo 1, in Taiwan, after unveiling the bike in New York in late May and in France on Tuesday. The company said it would also introduce the series in other European countries such as Germany and the Netherlands. The “Eeyo project” is the fourth of Gogoro’s eight projects that concentrate on smart transportation, which includes Gogoro’s electric scooter, battery swap system and electric scooter sharing service, company founder and chief executive officer Horace Luke (陸學森) told a media briefing in Taipei. “There are various types of city commuters. We will not
With the US dollar expected to weaken in the next 12 months due to near-zero interest rates, investors should consider purchasing US corporate bonds, Standard Chartered Bank Taiwan Ltd (渣打台灣銀行) said on Thursday. The bank said that the US Federal Reserve since last month has been buying bonds issued by US companies to curb default rates. The US dollar is forecast to be weaker against the pound, the euro and the yen, as well as the Canadian dollar, the Swedish krona and the Swiss franc, as the greenback lacks high investment returns after the Fed in March slashed the benchmark interest rate
BAD RAP: The exchange said Tatung had seriously breached shareholders’ rights and failed to give a satisfactory explanation of its board election dispute Tatung Co (大同) shares yesterday plunged by the maximum daily limit of 10 percent to NT$18.90, the lowest in three months, after the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) on Tuesday evening changed the company’s classification to a full-delivery stock effective tomorrow. The TWSE’s move follows the company’s failure to give a clear and satisfactory explanation of why it deprived dozens of shareholders of their voting rights during a board election at the annual shareholders’ meeting on Tuesday morning. Under the exchange’s regulations, investors are not allowed to engage in margin trading of a full-delivery stock, TWSE spokeswoman Rebecca Chen (陳麗卿) told
SIZE MATTERS: Medium-sized hotels that do not have the support of parent groups are more vulnerable and are forced to take action, a REPro Knight Frank researcher said About 50 hotels across Taiwan are seeking to exit the market as they succumb to the bleak business outlook amid international travel restrictions imposed to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Yomi Hotel (優美飯店) on Minsheng E Road, Sec 1, in Taipei is seeking to transfer ownership with an asking price of NT$950 million (US$32.15 million) and a pledge for a lease contract that guarantees a 3 percent return. The budget hotel, with room rates that start from NT$1,400 per night, maintains normal operations, but has been struggling since March, when the government placed restrictions on inbound and outbound travel. Occupancy rates for hotels in
RSS