DETROIT, June 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- May Mobility, an
Ann Arbor startup building
self-driving vehicles, in partnership with Bedrock, a full-service
real estate firm, today announced the first commercial deployment
of independent autonomous vehicles on public streets in any urban
core in America. The partnership will immediately embed
self-driving shuttles into the daily fabric of downtown
Detroit, and begin transporting
passengers on June 27, 2018.
Under the partnership, May Mobility will provide a fleet of
electric vehicles to Bedrock. These vehicles will transport Quicken
Loans and its Family of Companies' close to 18,000 employees
between their offices, parking sites, events and other downtown
destinations, beginning with a 1-mile loop connecting the Bricktown
Parking Garage to the One Campus Martius and First National
Buildings in the heart of downtown Detroit.
"Detroit is at the forefront of
technology and innovation, which is why it makes perfect sense for
the first fully-autonomous shuttle route to launch in our city,"
said Jay Farner, CEO, Quicken Loans.
"As a company dedicated to advancing mobility for a more
livable, walkable and accessible community, Michigan-grown May Mobility made the ideal
partner to further this mission," said Jim
Ketai, CEO, Bedrock. "These autonomous vehicles will allow
us to lead the nation in providing memorable and efficient
transportation methods for our residential, office and retail
tenants."
May Mobility maps, tests, and adds environmental sensors to
routes block-by-block, which delivers a unique approach to
autonomous transportation. This helps solve parking, traffic and
land management issues for municipalities, developers, and business
customers across the U.S.
The vehicles are deployed among other cars, cyclists,
pedestrians and more, making self-driving vehicles a normal part of
everyday life. As a result, May Mobility gathers invaluable data
from vehicles, riders, business and community partners, which is
crucial in helping expand services to additional roads and highways
in the future.
"Our partnership with Bedrock shows that our self-driving
vehicles can help address today's most difficult transportation
problems," said Edwin Olson, CEO and
co-founder of May Mobility. "Our technology allows us to provide
fully-managed transportation services that outperform traditional
services on wait time, rider satisfaction, and other metrics. By
improving the lives of Bedrock's employees and tenants, we move
closer to our vision that everyone uses May Mobility every
day."
As part of the expansion, May Mobility has opened its first
office outside of Ann Arbor at 601
Franklin in Detroit. From this
location, May Mobility will provide full-time operational support
for the Bedrock Bricktown route, store and charge the shuttles, and
coordinate future route expansion.
"As a Michigan-based company
with offices in Detroit and
Ann Arbor, we are proud that our
shuttles are solving transportation problems faced by everyday
workers," said Olson. "Bedrock and May Mobility share a vision for
a new era in Detroit, where
transportation is safe, convenient, and accessible. Self-driving
technology will transform cities, improving the lives of everyday
people, driving commerce, and helping to create new green spaces by
reducing the need for parking. Much of the necessary technology was
developed here in Michigan, and at
May Mobility, we've been able to turn it into a system that will
start creating a positive impact today. It is fitting that we begin
in our own backyard, the Motor City."
May Mobility's shuttle platform highlights three key focus
areas:
- Self-driven: Builds and ships safe, reliable, and enjoyable
autonomous driving capabilities that riders love. This service is
offered initially in fleets of May Mobility's six-seater electric
shuttle for short distance trips, which will grow into more
offerings of other fleets and service models in response to
customer needs.
- Community-driven: Provides the "human touch" by creating a
local presence through a hands on operations support team based in
local offices. May Mobility starts by designing a specific route in
response to a customer's need, and continuing throughout the
partnership for maintenance, upgrades, and more.
- Data-driven: Offers detailed analytics and reporting to track
vehicles, optimize fleet usage, and empower customers to make
smarter decisions about transportation.
This approach – partnering with developers, urban planners and
municipalities to understand their needs and design solutions –
establishes May Mobility as the trusted autonomous vehicle partner,
both in communities and across the industry. At launch, May
Mobility will have attendants in vehicles to help orient first-time
riders and to monitor the vehicles. The company will offer
on-demand services and expand its suite of vehicles and services in
2019.
For more information about May Mobility's products, technology,
or career opportunities, visit http://maymobility.com/
About May Mobility
May Mobility solves today's transportation needs with
self-driving vehicles. We bring communities closer together today,
with fleets of self-driving shuttles that make short distance
travel safe, personal, and effortless. From business districts to
educational campuses to residential areas, May provides a
fully-managed mobility service that helps people engage more fully
in the places where they live and work, while helping make the
streets safer and supporting healthier local economies. Its pilot
in downtown Detroit was the first
successful self-driving vehicle to replace an existing
transportation solution on city streets. May's founders bring
unparalleled expertise in academia, innovation and the auto
industry, counting University of
Michigan's APRIL lab, MIT, the
DARPA Urban Challenge, Ford, GM, GM Ventures, and Toyota among
recent experience. Their goal is to realize a world where
self-driving mobility systems will reduce the need for individual
car ownership, encourage better land use and foster more vibrant,
livable communities. The company's investors include BMW i
Ventures, Toyota AI Ventures, Detroit Venture Partners, Maven
Ventures, SV Angel, Tandem Ventures, Trucks Ventures, and
YCombinator.
About Bedrock
Detroit-based Bedrock is a
full-service real estate firm specializing in acquiring,
developing, leasing, financing, and managing commercial and
residential buildings. Since its founding in 2011, Bedrock and its
affiliates have invested and committed more than $5.6 billion to acquiring and developing more
than 100 properties, including new construction of ground up
developments in downtown Detroit
and Cleveland totaling more than
18 million square feet. Bedrock's real estate portfolio consists of
more than 330 office and retail tenants in Detroit's technology-centric downtown.
Additionally, Bedrock is dedicated to creating jobs and investing
in job training. Over the last year, the company has invested in
both the Randolph Technical Center and the Breithaupt Career and
Technical Center in Detroit to
build a pipeline of talent for Detroit's growing economy. For more
information, visit bedrockdetroit.com or engage with us on Twitter
@BedrockDetroit and Facebook.
About Quicken Loans
Detroit-based Quicken Loans
Inc. is the nation's largest home mortgage lender. The company
closed more than $400 billion of
mortgage volume across all 50 states from 2013 through 2017.
Quicken Loans moved its headquarters to downtown Detroit in 2010. Today, Quicken Loans and its
Family of Companies employ more than 17,000 full-time team members
in Detroit's urban core. The
company generates loan production from web centers located in
Detroit, Cleveland and Phoenix. Quicken Loans also operates a
centralized loan processing facility in Detroit, as well as its San Diego-based One Reverse Mortgage unit.
Quicken Loans ranked highest in the country for customer
satisfaction for primary mortgage origination by J.D. Power for the
past eight consecutive years, 2010 – 2017, and also ranked highest
in the country for customer satisfaction among all mortgage
servicers the past four consecutive years, 2014 – 2017.
Quicken Loans was once again named to FORTUNE magazine's "100
Best Companies to Work For" list in 2018 and has been included in
the magazine's top 1/3rd of companies named to the list for the
past 15 consecutive years. In addition, Essence Magazine named
Quicken Loans "#1 Place to Work in the Country for African
Americans."
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SOURCE Bedrock