CLARK FREEPORT -- The Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) and its partner, Connected Autonomous Shared Transportation (Coast), are set to deploy self-driving cars during the South East Asian (SEA) Games at the New Clark City.
BCDA and Coast signed a memorandum of agreement on Tuesday, August 13, at the former's office in Clark Global City for the deployment of three electric driverless vehicles during the SEA Games.
Present during the memorandum signing were BCDA president and chief executive officer Vivencio Dizon, Clark Development Corporation president and CEO Noel Manankil, BCDA vice president Arrey Perez, Coast Autonomous LLC chairman and CEO David Hickey, and Coast chief technology officer Pierre Lefevre.
The driverless vehicles, which are fully electric and with zero carbon footprint, are the first in Asia. The vehicles will run at a maximum speed of 60 kilometers per hour and will arrive in the country for the pilot testing ahead of the SEA Games.
Dizon said Coast will provide their P-1 Shuttles at no cost to the government.
“This is truly a very exciting day. On behalf of BCDA, I want to thank Coast Autonomous for working with us,” Dizon said.
Under the agreement, Coast will provide and use high-definition and 3D mapping machines to determine the route of each vehicle for it to operate on its own, and transport passengers to and from the Athlete’s Village, the Athletic Stadium and the Aquatics Center.
Coast chairman Hickey said BCDA and Coast share the same vision for the future that "cities must be livable by removing traffic and connecting people with clean mobility options that put pedestrians first."
Meanwhile, Coast chief technology officer Lefevre said they developed vehicles that can adapt to an appropriate speed in a given environment.
"The vehicles are not dependent on GPS (global positioning system) and thus, can operate in urban canyons created by tall buildings, under tree canopies and even underground or in tunnels. Coast's technology is highly flexible and makes cities and campuses more walkable. The future mobility should be connected, autonomous, shared and electric,” Lefevre said.
Clark will serve as the main hub during this year’s SEA Games, with the construction of world-class sports complex in the New Clark City.
There are 56 sports to be played in by nearly 10,000 athletes from 11 countries at the biennial event.
The 11 countries are Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Vietnam.