The future of “robotaxis”
Ford self-driving car. Courtesy, Ford Motor Company
Those that follow our work know that we’re enthusiastic followers of the developing automated vehicles (AV) technology and the terrific progress the state of Florida has made in becoming a leader in bringing these vehicles to Florida. Now comes word that Ford Motor Company is ready to begin the next stage of road tests in Miami using Lyft ride-sharing vehicles.
Ford and Argo AI, a tech company that it partially owns, have been working out of a 140,000 square-foot command center near Miami International Airport since winter to lay the groundwork for this big step into commercial operations. Ford announced last week that it will join with Lyft to offer autonomous rides for passengers on the Lyft network beginning this fall on the streets of Miami, utilizing about 100 Ford cars. It will start with human backup drivers and go fully autonomous at a future date. During this stage, the cars will gather data needed to develop 1,000 “robotaxis” on the Lyft network over the next five years in several markets across the U.S. A similar test deal with Lyft will take place in Austin, Texas by next summer. You can read more in this Miami Herald article.
Florida was one of the first states to allow the use of vehicles in autonomous mode on public roadways. Through the leadership of Senator Jeff Brandes (R-Pinellas) and others, Florida has been heavily involved in AV development and testing, including the new SunTrax state-of-the-art transportation technology testing facility at Florida Polytechnic University. It’s become a high-tech hub for research, development, and testing of all emerging technologies, including tolling, intelligent transportation systems (ITS) and AV and connected vehicles. Florida has also been a testing ground for driverless auto insurance.
LMA Newsletter of 7-26-21
