Ford Buys Shuttle Company, Partners with Bike-Sharing Firm

Chariot now operates about 100 Ford Transit vans on 28 routes, according to Ford, and is expected to expand to five new markets in the next 18 months. The platform crowdsources the creation of routes, aggregating desired pick-up and destination data from user interaction with its app and determining routes once interest in a particular one reaches a tipping point. The buyout will allow the automaker to get its feet wet in San Francisco before launching a global shuttle service business, aiming to add at least five additional markets in the next 18 months. Please click the button below to manage your account.

The second-largest US automaker said it’s acquiring the Chariot shuttle service for an undisclosed sum and collaborating with bike-sharing provider Motivate in San Francisco. Ford says it plans to increase Motivate’s San Francisco bike fleet from 700 bikes to 7,000 bikes by the end of 2018. It also will increase the number of stations where riders can get bikes. Users will be able to enroll in the program and reserve bikes on a Ford app the company hopes users will come to rely on for a variety of transportation services.

FordPass now lets users find and pay for parking or remotely start their cars.

Ford’s acquisition of Chariot, subject to normal customary closing conditions, will serve as the cornerstone for its new global shuttle services business.

“To some, this might seem like a bit of a departure”, Fields said.

In addition to its Chariot deal, Ford has teamed up with bike-sharing firm Motivate to launch Ford GoBike, which is scheduled to launch next year. Shuttles work well because they don’t use existing infrastructure and can rapidly adapt based on demand, he said.

Ford also recently joined Chinese search giant Baidu in making a 0 million investment in Silicon Valley tech company Velodyne, makers of laser-radar components that are critical to the manufacturing of self-driving automobiles.

Ford CEO Mark Fields says half the world’s population now lives in cities, and by 2030, that number is expected to grow to 60 percent. “It’s even more refreshing to hear such an iconic American vehicle company recognize that it can be a catalytic force in undoing the sins of the auto industry like pollution, traffic congestion, and physical inactivity”. “We couldn’t be more excited to leverage Ford’s leadership in transportation to fulfill our goals worldwide, and look forward to sharing this journey with our fantastic community of drivers and riders”. “Shuttles are very, very interesting for us and a big business opportunity”. Ford Motor Company (F) plans on solving two problems in the near future, and this relates to its most recent acquisition, Chariot-a dynamic bus service located in San Francisco.

The new subsidiary is led by Jim Hackett, a former Ford’s board of directors who quit the position to take the job. The shuttles now operate on 28 routes based on rider demand, but in the future, Ford will run the shuttles based on data algorithms that map the most efficient routes on a real-time basis.