Ford has launched a crowd-sourced shuttle service to help reach areas of New York underserved by public transport.
Called Chariot, the service is designed to reach ‘transit deserts’ (areas that are not within walking distance of public transport) and provide a new way of getting from A to B. Each Chariot vehicle can seat more than a dozen people, with shuttles travelling to busy areas where people work and then taking them back at the end of the day.
According to Ford, the service is launching with two pre-planned routes in Manhattan and Brooklyn, offering transport for a flat rate of $4 per day.
In addition, people can create extra routes through crowd-sourcing – if enough people want to go from one place to another, Ford will run a service – while the firm expects 60 Ford Transits to operate in the big apple by the autumn.