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Four years on, George Mason delivery robots more popular than ever

Andrew Hudson   ||   Feb 17, 2023  ||   ,

Starship delivery robots have been roaming the George Mason campus since 2019, when the university became the first in the country to host the then fledgling delivery solution. In the time since, George Mason and its students haven't looked back, growing the program year on year and processing more orders than ever before.

A recent university release commemorated four years with Starship, reflecting on what started as a fleet of 25 robots -- the world’s largest fleet of delivery robots at the time. That fleet has now grown to 60 robots, all delivering on George Mason's Fairfax, Va. campus.

“Starship robots allowed Mason to bring an innovative, safe, and convenient dining solution to students—which was well-received by the campus community and proved to be extremely helpful during the pandemic,” says Pascal Petter, executive director, auxiliary services, at George Mason. “We celebrate the milestones achieved thus far and look forward to our collaborative work in the future.”

Just as impressive as the growth of the fleet are some of the ordering stats that Starship has amassed as George Mason since launching in 2019:

  • 335,489 orders completed.
  • 17,334 people have placed orders.
  • 39,828 coffees delivered.

Additionally, the university reports that its campus residence, Whitetop Hall, is the most popular delivery location on campus. And while breakfast has a popular meal for robot delivery, lunch still reigns supreme as the most popular delivery meal each day.

“It’s hard to believe that we’ve already been doing deliveries at Mason for four years,” says Chris Neider, director of business development at Starship Technologies. “We’ve taken what we learned at Mason and have incorporated those lessons across the U.S. We’re looking forward to the next four years and beyond at Mason!”

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