Autonomous EVs to Transport Athletes During 2019 SEA Games

COAST Autonomous announced that it has been selected by the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) to provide autonomous electric vehicle (AEV) service in New Clark City during the 2019 Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) scheduled later this year.

A fleet of electric COAST P-1 Self-Driving Shuttles will showcase the future of urban transportation running a service between the athletes' village, aquatic center, and athletics stadium in New Clark City.

The SEA Games is a biennial event with approximately 8,750 athletes from 11 countries, participating in 57 sports and targeting more than 500 million viewers.

The Philippines is hosting the 30th SEA Games from November 30 to December 11 in multiple venues around the country. The SEA Games will be the first major international sporting event to offer an AEV service to its athletes.

Each P-1 shuttle has a capacity of up to 20 passengers (depending upon the seating configuration) and can operate safely in pedestrian areas, in mixed traffic or on a dedicated lane. Designed as a first and last mile mobility solution, the P-1 shuttle is ideal working as a connector between venues or to existing public transportation. However, fleets of P-1 shuttles operating on a dedicated lane, can travel further at higher speeds (up to 80 kph) and provide a flexible, low cost alternative to Light Rail systems.

"Cities must be for people. Hosting the SEA Games at New Clark City is an opportunity to showcase our vision of a modern, smart and green metropolis," said Vivencio Dizon, President & CEO of BCDA. "Part of this vision is to adopt new modes that can complement our existing transportation and provide the best living and working environment for our people. We are excited to work with COAST Autonomous to provide a unique self-driving service for the athletes and an opportunity for the public to sample the next generation of urban mobility. Traffic problems are well documented in the region, and we believe that these are the types of vehicles that can begin to turn the tide, remove congestion and give cities back to the people. We are looking forward to testing the COAST P-1 self-driving shuttle at the games and will use this as a proof of concept for larger deployments at New Clark City and beyond."

"BCDA and COAST share the same vision for the future: cities must be made more liveable by removing traffic and connecting people with clean mobility options that put pedestrians first," said David Hickey, Chairman and CEO of COAST Autonomous. "It is a great honor to partner with BCDA and the Philippines to deploy a fleet of COAST P-1 Shuttles to New Clark City for the SEA Games and we are grateful for this incredible opportunity. The SEA Games is the perfect event and New Clark City the ideal location to showcase the future of urban transportation. The Philippines once had a robust electric streetcar system that carried 35 million passengers and was the envy of Asia. Shared, electric self-driving shuttles are the natural successors to the streetcar and can form the backbone of a new, clean and more efficient streetcar system. The technology is now available to build a clean and smart 'people first' system that the Philippines mastered almost 100 years ago."