The company plans to make additional customer announcements this year, improve transit experiences, and augment ridership in partnership with schools, cities, and governments.
TORONTO, Sept. 3, 2024 /CNW/ - Argo Corporation (TSXV: ARGH) (OTCQX: ARGHF), a new venture delivering the first-ever vertically and publicly integrated city transit system, today announced the deployment of Argo School to its first customers – a series of private schools in the Greater Toronto Area for which Argo will provide end to end student transportation. With Argo School, families and schools benefit from safe, reliable transportation with dedicated, certified, experienced drivers supported by a full-service Argo School operations team. In a sector fraught with challenges like driver availability and delayed or cancelled routes, Argo's innovative technology gives parents, drivers, and schools access to more flexibility and real-time tracking of students and vehicles, enhancing the before- and after-school experience for all.
Argo School bus in front of Trafalgar Castle School (CNW Group/ARGO CORPORATION)
"Argo School delivers unprecedented safety, reliability and transparency for families and schools alike," said Praveen Arichandran, co-CEO and co-founder of Argo. "We're allowing students, parents, and educators to put their focus back on learning and well-being with a seamless and accessible end-to-end student transportation solution. Many Argo team members returned to Canada from Silicon Valley to build better transit starting in our community, and we're excited to deploy this global innovation at home in Ontario."
Effective today, Argo is assuming full responsibility for student transportation at four private schools in the Greater Toronto Area, strategically selected to highlight and demonstrate the versatility and capabilities of its solutions. Through the easy-to-use Argo School app and dashboard, guardians and schools know where shuttles and individual students are at all times. Guardians may cancel trips or change pick-up or drop-off locations at pre-approved stops, and schools and drivers have clear information about each shuttle's route and the students they're serving. The company's school partnerships implement unique offerings, including multiple software applications, integration with existing city public transit systems and real-time, dynamic vehicle tracking and coordination thanks to Argo's unique vehicle hardware and software unification. Argo School plans to introduce its student transportation solution to private and public schools throughout Ontario, Canada and internationally in the coming months and years.
"Argo's expansion into the education sector unlocks a significant opportunity for a $32 billion North American transit market. The average per-student transportation cost is over $1,200 in North America1, with more than 27 million students relying on school transportation daily2. Argo School not only enhances service reliability but also tackles a critical equity gap: students who live further from school often face longer commute times, and these students are frequently from lower-income neighbourhoods," said Qamar Qureshi, co-CEO and co-founder of Argo alongside Arichandran. "Having dedicated much of my career to driving technological innovation for thousands of schools across Canada, the UK and the US, I've seen firsthand the pressing need for this solution and the opportunity it will unlock."
The deployment with schools is the first of several planned this year for Argo, which is set to partner with cities, transit agencies, and governments to increase ridership of existing public transit systems while putting people in control of their mobility. Argo's solution is the world's first to integrate custom software with vehicular hardware to create a network of intelligently routed vehicles that work together to serve and scale in real-time to the needs of entire cities.
1 Sources: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and Canadian School Boards Association (CSBA)
2 Sources: American School Bus Council and Canadian School Boards Association
Sale of Financial Assets
Further to previous public disclosure, the Company continues its active sales processes for intellectual property and financial assets associated with the last venture in its publicly traded entity. On August 29, 2024, the Company completed the first of these planned sales via the sale of 14,200 shares of preferred stock in the capital of Westbrook Global Inc. ("Westbrook") to Malar Group Inc. (the "Transaction"). Pursuant to the terms of the Transaction, the Company received a cash payment of CAD$750,000 as consideration. No finder's fee was paid with respect to the Transaction. As the transacting party is beneficially owned by a non-arm's length party to the Company, the Transaction is considered a "related party transaction" under Multilateral Instrument 61-101 – Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101") and TSX Venture Exchange Policy 5.9. The Company is relying on exemptions from the formal valuation and minority approval requirements of MI 61-101 and TSX Venture Exchange Policy 5.9, pursuant to Section 5.5(a) (Fair Market Value Not More Than 25% of Market Capitalization), Section 5.5(b) (Issuer Not Listed on Specified Markets), and Section 5.7(1)(a) (Fair Market Value Not More Than 25% of Market Capitalization) of MI 61-101, respectively.
About Argo
Argo delivers the first-ever vertically and publicly integrated city transit system, designed to augment public transportation and create a network of intelligently routed vehicles that work together to serve and scale to the needs of entire cities, putting people in control of their mobility. You can learn more at www.rideargo.com.
This news release includes certain forward-looking statements as well as management's objectives, strategies, beliefs and intentions. Forward-looking statements are frequently identified by such words as "may", "will", "plan", "expect", "anticipate", "estimate", "intend" and similar words referring to future events and results. Forward-looking statements are based on the current opinions and expectations of management. All forward-looking information is inherently uncertain and subject to a variety of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, as described in more detail in the Company's securities filings available at www.sedarplus.ca. Actual events or results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements and we caution against placing undue reliance thereon. We assume no obligation to revise or update these forward-looking statements except as required by applicable law.
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