Ohmio, Think Robotics and Dense Air have partnered to develop and build this cutting-edge system that will provide on demand transport to future residents of Paerata Rise via a smart phone app. Chris Johnston, Executive Director for Paerata Rise says: “Our goal is to be one of the most desirable places to live in Auckland and becoming a Smart Village is an extension of this. It means we are able to offer the utmost connection to our residents through a private network, and the most cutting-edge technologies.” The self-driving shuttle system is a key element to the state-of-the-art lifestyle Paerata Rise will offer residents, as it will improve access between facilities such as park and ride spaces and the Paerata train station which is set to begin development in 2020. “The autonomous vehicle will act as both an autonomous transport vehicle, navigating around a predefined circuit for residents to utilise, and as a platform for other services, such as connectivity to the outside world,” says Ohmio’s Executive Chairman Mohammed Hikmet. “We were able to test, for the first time in New Zealand, our Hail service that allows the autonomous vehicle to pick up passengers on demand. Paerata Rise provided us the right environment to test our technologies and its interaction with the rest of the eco-system elements.”