Ford may challenge Uber and Lyft with “Dynamic Shuttle” service
Next Monday, Ford will launch a new Uber-like app and shuttle service to help employees get around its huge Dearborn, Michigan plant. The automaker said its “Dynamic Shuttle” service will begin with four customised Transit vans, carrying about 300 Ford employees per day, however most reports expect the service to grow quite quickly. Apparently the goal is to expand the service and sell it to companies with large campuses or multiple locations in big cities. It is worth bearing in mind that unlike Uber, which only offers an app, Ford could offer the entire service, including software and the vehicles needed.
“Dynamic Shuttle is a major step forward on Ford’s mobility journey, which is designed to lead the company to develop truly innovative and disruptive ideas for diminishing traffic congestion and making public transit more convenient and accessible,” said Ken Washington, vice president of Ford research and advanced engineering.

Ford announced today that it's piloting an on-demand ride-sharing service for its employees that the company says can have an effect on communities far beyond its Dearborn, Michigan headquarters. In the long term, it argues, shuttle services like this could help reduce traffic across the country.

How, exactly? Well, Ford isn't saying much beyond what it revealed in a short video announcement Thursday that showed employees using their smartphones to summon the company's blue-and-black Transit vans, which they are calling "Dynamic Shuttles." Ford says it has 21 shuttles in operation, servicing 129 locations and 300 passengers a day.

Ford's Dynamic Shuttles are powered by an evolving algorithm that is "learning constantly based on the data we're collecting," says George Verghis, a data scientist at Ford. Occupancy rates, traffic conditions, weather, and shuttle availability are compiled and analyzed by Ford's data team. The goal is to "reduce the number of single riders on the road," Verghis says.

A car company wants to help ease traffic congestion

Most intriguingly, Ford teases the possibility of using this new technology to help improve transportation in cities that lack mass transit or suffer from chronic congestion and gridlock — which sounds strange coming from a company that's ostensible goal is to sell as many cars as possible.

"All of us began to see this had a much greater importance than just our locale," says Greg DeGorsky from Ford's IT Rapid Response Team. "This could aid a lot of communities globally."