Ford Tests Startup’s Platform for On-Demand Medical Shuttle Service
Ford Motor Co. is testing a “micro-transit” shuttle service that runs on a mobile app software platform developed by 15-month-old Silicon Valley startup Autonomic Inc.
Ford Motor Co. is testing a “micro-transit” shuttle service that runs on a mobile app software platform developed by 15-month-old Silicon Valley startup Autonomic Inc.
The service, dubbed Non-Emergency Medical Transport, enables patients to use a mobile app to schedule pickups to and from appointments at Beaumont Hospital in suburban Detroit. Ford CEO Jim Hackett told investors last week that the carmaker had made an unspecified investment in Autonomic.
Ford could use Autonomic’s open platform as a base to build fee-based products and services for users of on-demand transportation, a source tells Reuters. Jim Farley, who heads Ford’s global markets, says a key to the company’s strategy is to launch multiple revenue streams associated with the self-driving vehicles Ford is developing.
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