Ford Motor is working with Argo AI to deploy its autonomous vehicles (AV) on the Lyft network in Miami later this year and in Austin in 2022.
Lyft users will be able to select a Ford self-driving vehicle to hail a ride.
Ford says this initial deployment will lay the groundwork for scaling operations, as the parties are now working to finalise agreements aiming to deploy at least 1,000 AVs over the next five years.
Argo foudner Bryan Salesky says: “Beyond the link that Lyft provides to the customer, we’ll be able to work together to define where an autonomous service will benefit communities the most and ensure we’re deploying the technology safely.”
According to Ford, Argo is to use anonymised service and fleet data from Lyft to overcome the challenges faced by other AV companies by focusing on where they can build a sustainable business and validate deployment through localised safety data.
Additionally, Ford has established a presence in Miami, Austin and Washington, DC to support AV deployments. This includes operations to support commercial fleets, including fuelling, servicing and cleaning.
In a separate move, Here Technologies has confirmed Lyft is using its map content and location services to power its location searches and real-time road closures data.
Here says any ride made through the Lyft platform will now come with an improved search database for places and addresses, and even more accurate driver ETAs.
