Ford in last
week of September 2017 made a significant step toward bringing self-driving
vehicles to the masses thanks to a new partnership with Lyft that
will help both companies progress toward a more affordable, dependable and
accessible transportation future. Amazing to us since GM owns a large piece of
Lyft. We understand Ford will
cooperate with others the same way they are working with Lyft.
“We know the technology has the potential to have a profound impact,
but it’s time to look beyond the potential and talk about how it can be applied
in helpful ways to create a viable business,” said Sherif Marakby, Ford’s vice
president for autonomous vehicles and electrification.
Ford appears to be doubling
down on its push toward autonomous vehicles with a Wednesday announcement of a
partnership with Lyft, the nation’s second largest ride-hailing service.
Together, the companies aim to create a fleet of self-driving cars that will
provide taxi service in major urban areas by 2021.
The companies hope that when
you open the Lyft app during a period of high demand, Ford and Lyft software
will need to be capable of quickly dispatching a self-driving vehicle so that
you can get to your destination as quickly and as safely as possible.
Partnering with Lyft makes
sense for Ford. Lyft has expertise
in transportation flow within cities, and an established customer network. Ford
brings its already considerable knowledge of autonomous vehicle technology and,
obviously, large-scale manufacturing.
There is no
doubt self-driving vehicles will have an impact on how people and goods will move more efficiently in the
future. But the magnitude of that impact — and
how quickly self-driving vehicles can benefit society — will
largely depend on businesses, government and the public working together.
Ford continues
making progress on developing self-driving technology — including
the self-driving vehicle Argo AI’s virtual driver system .
Ford is building the infrastructure and systems necessary
to make it easy for people to use our service.
Lyft has a
network of customers, growing demand for rides and strong knowledge of
transportation flow within cities. Ford has experience with autonomous vehicle
technology development and large scale manufacturing. Both companies have fleet
management and big data experience. Their combined capabilities can effectively
share information to help make the best decisions for the future.
Ford says they
are working on building a service based around actual people’s needs and wants.
A high priority on safety and dependability so customers will trust the
experience that Ford’s self-driving technology will one day enable.
As Ford builds
their technology platform they will deploy human-driven vehicles on Lyft’s
network. This will allow Ford to
test our platform interface to ensure compatibility with Lyft’s customer-facing
platform — the one you currently see whenever you open the Lyft app.
The goal is that customers using Lyft won’t notice any difference in their
experience.
Ford will
connect self-driving test vehicles
to Lyft’s network. When ready, Ford will have self-driving cars operating alongside Lyft’s current
community of drivers to help accommodate times of significant consumer demand
to ensure that transportation remains timely and affordable.
REPORTED
FROM NUMEROUS PRESS RELEASES
BRUCE
HUBBARD
BONNIE
LYNCH
AUTO
ADVISOR GROUP
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