Dynamic Shuttle is Ford’s New Employee-Centered Mobility Service

Dynamic Shuttle is Ford’s new employee-centered mobility service and it will be launched on Monday according to the Ford Motor Co. announcement.

The service might look familiar in design to what Uber or Lyft are offering: alternative transport options that could reduce traffic congestion and rethink public transport in an innovative way. For now, Dynamic Shuttle will ferry Ford Motor employees around the campus in Dearborn. Ford Motor offers both the app and the transport means: four Transit vans that will be used throughout the pilot program. According to estimations, approximately 300 Ford Motor employees will use Dynamic Shuttle daily.

The steps are quite simple: Ford Motor employees install the Dynamic Shuttle app on their smartphones. Upon placing an order, an algorithm decides which Transit van is closer to the pick-up address and replies with the time of arrival. The person requesting a lift to one of the Ford Motor buildings has to also input the address of arrival.

Dynamic Shuttle is Ford’s new employee-centered mobility service. Nonetheless, the launch of the service is also the launch of a pilot program which could turn Ford Motor in a serious competitor for ride-hailing services like Uber or Lyft.

According to Ken Washington, the VP of Ford Research and Advanced Engineering, Dynamic Shuttle is indeed a step forward for Ford Motor’s plans to enter the mobility service market. Ford Motor has the potential to be a major player in a growing market looking at rethinking public transport and the urgent need to reduce traffic congestion.

Dynamic Shuttle pilot program will be replacing as of Monday the current shuttle service for Ford Motor employees. The current shuttle service works via a dispatch center that registers orders and finds rides for employees. It uses 21 vans to ferry Ford Motor employees to 129 locations in the Dearborn campus. With just four Transit vans a simplified application, things are looking up.

The four Transit vans were designed as thorough research was completed within the Ford Dearborn campus, as well as the UK and California. Most people asked about the facilities they would like to see answered to occupy a center aisle seat as well as WiFi connectivity.

Dynamic Shuttle is Ford’s new employee-centered mobility service while also being one of the 25 Ford Motor mobility experiments on the roll. Mark Fields, the President and CEO of Ford Motor announced the mobility experiments in January. Some have moved from being experiments to pilot programs, while others are still waiting for the shift.

Photo Credits: Flickr