Suzuki has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with transit developer Thoth Infrastructure and California-based Glydways to study autonomous personal rapid transit (PRT) for Sabarmati Multimodal Hub in Ahmedabad, India. The hub is a planned bullet train terminal where rising passenger volumes are expected to increase demand for short-distance electric mobility across the district.

Image of Glydways in urban area

Glydways’ PRT system operates compact, mini-vehicle-sized electric vehicles autonomously on dedicated lanes, carrying multiple passengers on demand at lower infrastructure cost than conventional transit options. Glydways is a Suzuki investee company with which the OEM holds a strategic collaboration agreement; Thoth Infrastructure, based in Delhi, brings transit-oriented development expertise and joins the MOU as local project partner.

The Sabarmati area already sees high demand for short-distance urban travel, a factor the three parties cite in favour of PRT as a suitable solution. The MOU marks the start of a feasibility study rather than a confirmed deployment, with implementation details to be assessed as the project progresses.

Suzuki frames the initiative as part of its medium- to long-term commitment to developing infrastructure mobility in India. The company’s investment in Glydways and broader strategic collaboration with the firm predate the Ahmedabad study.

Why this matters:

• Sabarmati’s bullet train connection makes the timing deliberate.A high-speed rail terminus arriving in an area with high short-distance travel demand creates exactly the first-and-last-mile gap that Personal Rapid Transit is designed to fill—Suzuki and Glydways are positioning ahead of infrastructure that will generate demand rather than responding to demand that already exists.
• India’s urban density makes dedicated-lane PRT more viable than open-road robotaxi.The constrained, predictable operating environment of a fixed guideway system sidesteps the edge-case complexity that slows autonomous deployment in mixed traffic, which may prove a more pragmatic entry point for autonomous mobility in a market where road conditions vary enormously.