Miles Garner, sales & marketing director at RDM, said the US offers a “massive opportunity” to take the technology developed in the UK to help some of the country’s ‘first and last mile’ transport issues.
“When we attended the Texas A&M Transportation Institute Technology Conference last year, we met with leading figures in mobility services and they were clearly interested in the work we were doing on our ‘Pod Zero’ range of autonomous vehicles,” he said. “We realised then that we needed a US base and we started to explore options, including making the most of our existing relationship with Arup.”
RDM’s expansion to the Houston market will involve the recruitment of a dedicated programme lead and leasing office space within Arup’s Houston office as a base for developing new relationships. The Arup team will also provide technical expertise on new bids.
The collaboration follows a successful partnership in the UK, where the two companies – alongside other consortium partners – are working together to deliver UK Autodrive, the largest of three current trials of automated vehicle technology in the country.
The US is the second international expansion for RDM Group, with the company also boasting a sales and technical office at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia.
Brian Raine, principal and Houston Group leader at Arup, said: “We have collaborated with RDM Group globally and are excited to bring our combined autonomous vehicle experience to North America.”
Miles concluded: “Having a firm like Arup, with their strong international experience, collaborating with us on this new venture is fantastic news as we look to become a global provider of autonomous vehicle solutions.”
