FRIEDRICHSHAFEN, Germany — ZF is expanding its relationship with Oceaneering International, Inc., headquartered in Houston, to produce autonomous shuttles. The agreement aims to deliver a four-digit number of ZF‘s Group Rapid Transport shuttles to customers in the coming years.
The agreement brings together the key strategic strengths of both companies by combining Oceaneering’s engineering, manufacturing, and integration expertise with ZF‘s know-how in developing the building functions needed to advance autonomous driving.
ZF has expanded a strategic agreement with Oceaneering to serve the shuttle market for segregated lanes. As part of this partnership, Oceaneering will receive the license for the production and exclusive sales rights of ZF‘s GRT shuttle, which is primarily designed for use on segregated lanes.
With more than 100 million autonomously driven kilometers in real traffic, more than 14 million passengers transported and an uptime performance of over 99 percent, it is considered the world’s most experienced autonomous transport system. The third generation of the GRT has been implemented in Rivium and set in operation with unconditional release since 2022.
Strong partnership to be expanded
Oceaneering has been working with 2getthere, a ZF company, for more than 30 years, collaborating in design, development, and advancement of automated shuttle systems serving entertainment venues worldwide.
With Oceaneering, ZF`s subsidiary 2getthere has had a partner on hand, innovating in the field of guest transportation for theme parks and helping to enhance the visitor experience. Now, ZF and Oceaneering are expanding their current relationship, starting to bring autonomous shuttles to the U.S. market.
“This partnership is a logical and important step in the right direction towards our goal of a clean and safe mobility that is automated, comfortable and affordable, for everyone and everywhere. For shaping urban mobility of the future, autonomous shuttles are a key answer to reduce traffic, number of vehicles and emissions,” said Alexander Makowski, Senior Vice President Product Line Autonomous Mobility at ZF.
Oceaneering will serve enterprises, cities and municipalities seeking to enhance their mobility ecosystem and efficiently move people and goods through autonomous transport and the partners are already working on several potential business opportunities in the fields of airports and theme parks.
“Leveraging our proven technology delivery expertise, Oceaneering can further build upon our three-decade-long relationship with ZF to offer complete, integrated technology systems projects for our customers. With our state-of-the-art production, integration, and testing facilities, Oceaneering serves as the glue that brings whole projects together, ensuring that all customer requirements and regulations are met and delivered to expectations,” said Dave Mauck, Vice President and General Manager, Oceaneering Entertainment Systems.
