Greetings and welcome to The Ride, a new blog from Glydways focused on trends related to Automated Transit Networks (ATNs), updates on Glydways projects, our technology innovations, and anything else we find relevant.
One of the most promising developments in the mobility space recently is that Automated Transit Networks (ATNs) are receiving serious consideration as viable solutions for numerous and varied applications and projects around the world, and as you will see below, the Glydways approach is being rewarded. In the world of business, wins are everything, but what our team has truly energized is the change in conversations from the past. Elected leaders are thinking differently about solving old challenges and have opened their minds to solutions that have historically been dismissed as science fiction. What is driving this change? New approaches such as ours at Glydways, which offer an unmatched rider experience, costing a fraction to build and operate compared to other options (rail/bus), and most importantly, can easily scale.
The time for meaningful change in how we tackle the crippling problem of congestion has arrived, and new automated vehicle technology in public transit will lead the way in helping solve this problem.
When a mobility solution has the flexibility to fashion itself around the needs of riders versus forcing riders to construct their lives around their transit options, a whole new world is unlocked. Access to higher paying jobs, affordable housing, quality schools, healthcare and more becomes normal rather than an aspiration.
The Ride will gleefully dive into all of these subjects and more and you’ll have an opportunity to hear from members of the Glydways team who are experts in their respective fields.
To start The Ride, I’d like to provide an update on the progress we have made over the course of the past year, and a sneak peak into what 2024 may bring. To say the least, 2023 was a milestone year for Glydways across every part of the business.
In April, our consortium San Jose Connection Partners was awarded our first Project, a new connector between Mineta San José International Airport and Diridon Station in the west end of San José’s Downtown. This is a 4.3 mile trip that currently takes more than 30 minutes by bus. The Glydways non-stop trip reduces that time to about 8 minutes, riding in your own personal vehicle dropping you right at your destination.
This exciting project will unlock a 20+ year transit challenge, and we are grateful to the leaders at The City of San José for their vision and courage to think differently about solving this long-standing problem.
In October, we announced a $56 million Series B funding round led by New Science Ventures with participation from ACS Group, Khosla Ventures and Gates Frontier. This is a remarkable group of visionary investors, and we are equally humbled by their support and energized by their experience and strategic counsel. Having a group of this caliber in our corner is a significant vote of confidence in our imaginative approach. For decades, ATNs were viewed as having potential, but just couldn’t quite join the mainstream mode options such as rail or bus. However, as this group of investors has signaled, the time for meaningful change in how we tackle the crippling problem of congestion has arrived, and new automated vehicle technology in public transit will lead the way in helping solve this problem.
To end 2023, the Contra Costa Transportation Authority and Tri Delta Transit jointly announced a partnership with East County Connection Partners to design, build, and operate the innovative East Contra Costa County Glydways Project.
The ambitious project connects four underserved cities— Pittsburgh, Antioch, Oakley and Brentwood—to existing BART stations and local bus services with 28 miles of new Glydways system. Our service will help to reduce ever-increasing congestion on State Route 4 and other major highways in the area.
When a mobility solution has the flexibility to fashion itself around the needs of riders versus forcing riders to construct their lives around their transit options, a whole new world is unlocked.
2024 is going to be extraordinarily busy for Glydways! We are working hard delivering on the San José and East Contra County projects while fielding more requests for information and proposals from across the entire US. And our team is growing quickly as we hire more top talent across the business. With our current momentum we anticipate 2024 to be a year of tremendous achievements with our customers, partners and team.
Thank you for your interest in our journey, and I hope you enjoy The Ride !
