Advanced Mobility, Rideshare Pilot Programs Expand

The concept of rideshare and urban mobility continue to evolve as new projects test what’s possible.

Electric-scooter maker Spin is a central partner in the Move PGH program. (Spin)

Transportation-sector entities and cities and towns around the globe are continuing to define the role of ridesharing – while vehicle automation, the efficiency- and resource-maximizing endgame for many rideshare concepts, is advancing in increasingly aspiring efforts. Several new rideshare pilot programs were initiated or announced in summer 2021, different in the details but all aimed at acquiring a better understanding of what users want and what fast-moving technology is capable of achieving.

Hyundai’s roboshuttle service in South Korea uses artificial intelligent to optimize service along a 3.8-mile route in South Korea. (Hyundai)

This past summer, the city of Pittsburgh, PA started a particularly ambitious effort designed not only to expand rideshare and ride-hailing options, but to make those services available on what is intended to be a more equitable basis. The city runs the initiative, Move PGH, through its Department of Mobility and Infrastructure (DOMI), and partnered with a variety of entities for what it said is “a first-of-its-kind Mobility as a Service (MaaS) system. Move PGH integrates transit and shared mobility in both physical and digital ‘mobility hubs,’ making multimodal travel in the city easy and convenient.”

Ford, Argo AI and Lyft team to offer automated Ford Escapes to Lyft riders in certain sections of Miami by the end of 2021. (Ford)

Pittsburgh asserted in its release announcing the program that Move PGH is “the first integrated MaaS project in the U.S. to connect traditional and emerging low-cost, shared transportation options into a single, easy-to-use system.” Via a smartphone app, users are able to schedule and pay for rides on a city bus, a share-service bicycle, a scooter from Move PGH partner Spin, a Scoobi moped, a car from program partner Zipcar or a carpool shared ride facilitated by Waze Carpool. Users also can engage this variety of mobility options at one of the 50 Move PGH mobility hubs throughout the city.

Pittsburgh Mayor Bill summarized Move PGH’s intent by saying, “Transportation mobility is key to economic mobility and a major determinant in household health, education and welfare. In Pittsburgh, too many residents are one missed bus or one flat tire away from losing their job or missing a critical appointment.” Move PGH is being piloted in the Pittsburgh neighborhood of Manchester. To help overcome mobility insecurity, a co-joined program called Universal Basic Mobility leverages Move PGH’s services. The program provides up to 100 residents with monthly transit subscriptions and access to the Move PGH’s “last-mile” transportation and shared-mobility services.

MOVE PGH in Pittsburgh meshes last-mile and other transportation options in what it calls the first-of-its-kind Mobility as a Service (MasS) system. This is one of 50 mobility hubs central to the program. (David Kelly/Spin)

“Universal Basic Mobility, using the services of Move PGH, will demonstrate that when people have a readily available transportation back-up plan, they are able to access more opportunities and climb the economic ladder,” said Peduto. The partnership claims roughly 40,000 people currently use Move PGH’s Transit app. Katie Monroe, from the partnership team that administers the app, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “Of our users in Pittsburgh, 79 percent do not have access to a car. More than one-third earn less than $20,000 a year and more than 50 percent identify as nonwhite, so these are important things to keep in mind as we are working on Universal Basic Mobility and Move PGH in general. The city of Pittsburgh is really on the leading edge of cities taking charge of their mobility future.”

Miami and Korea test advanced programs

In another shared-mobility partnership said to be a first of its kind and starting late in 2021, Ford, Argo AI and Lyft will “work together to commercialize autonomous ride hailing at scale.” Argo AI and Ford will deploy Ford automated cars (with safety drivers) on the Lyft network as part of a network access agreement between Ford and Lyft. The companies pledged that the public will be able to hail the automated cars in Miami by the end of 2021, and in Austin, TX starting in 2022.

Lyft users in the program-defined service areas will be able to opt for a Ford automated vehicle when hailing a ride. “This initial deployment phase will lay the groundwork for scaling operations, as the parties are now working to finalize agreements aiming to deploy at least 1,000 autonomous vehicles on the Lyft network, across multiple markets over the next five years,” said Ford in a release.

“This collaboration marks the first time all the pieces of the autonomous vehicle puzzle have come together this way,” Lyft co-founder and CEO Logan Green added. “Each company brings the scale, knowledge and capability in their area of expertise that is necessary to make autonomous ride-hailing a business reality.”

In August 2021, Hyundai began a pilot program in South Korea with an automated ride-share van that riders can summon along a 6.1-km (3.8-mile), 20-stop route in Sejong Smart City. Hyundai said the van is equipped with SAE Level 4 automation developed by its in-house Autonomous Driving Center. The vehicle “also obtained a temporary operation permit of ‘autonomous driving Level 3’ from the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport,” the company said in a release.

Hyundai said the program operates in collaboration with Shucle, a demand mobility service launched by AIRS Company, a specialized AI research lab under Hyundai Motor Group. Shucle delivers shared mobility options to passengers intending to use similar routes by using algorithms to determine the optimal route. When the roboshuttle van is requested, the vehicle employs AI to calculate the most efficient route to pick up that passenger. Hyundai said it also intends to operate the roboshuttle service at the Hyundai Motor and Kia Namyang Research and Development Center campus in the second half of 2021.