Ford Motor Company has announced in a press release that it is piloting the Dynamic Shuttle service, an on-demand ride sharing service, for its employees to use around its Dearborn, Michigan campus.
The pilot provides Ford with a platform to test new ideas that can help find solutions to decongest traffic and provide a more convenient and accessible public transit.
Ford said that the Dynamic Shuttle service would provide a new mobility solution that features ride-hailing technology with premium customized shuttles.
The company is applying insights from earlier experiments and research with global urban commuters to its shuttle service.
Ken Washington, the vice president, Ford Research and Advanced Engineering, said in the press release that the Dynamic Shuttle is "a major step forward" on the company's "mobility journey."
He said that the company's mobility journey 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."
Reuters said that the executives of Ford are intending to develop their own commercial ride-hailing service.
They don't want to just sell vehicles to ride-hailing companies, such as Uber and Lyft.
Washington said that the company can "seamlessly" integrate the software and hardware needed to operate a ride-hailing system because they are vehicle makers.
Auto executives are considering the potential of "shared mobility service" due to the soaring value of companies like Uber.
Mark Fields, the CEO of Ford, said during a media presentation that a lot of money is made from the miles that vehicles travel.
"The market for vehicle miles traveled is $5 trillion," he said. "We get zero of that."
Ford said that they are piloting the Dynamic Shuttle with four Ford Transit vehicles.
They are expecting to expand more shuttle vehicles in their campus, as ridership potentially increases.
