DETROIT – The Ford Dynamic Shuttle is one of many innovations expected to come to life at the 2016 North American International Auto Show.
Thomas Miller, the Mobility Expert Lead on the Dynamic Shuttle in Dearborn, says this is a project that has been in the works for a while and is looking forward to taking it to the next level.
“Ford’s been looking at this for quite some time, but what we’re announcing is a shift from an experiment to a pilot.”
The Dynamic Shuttle Service is all part of the Ford Smart Mobility plan, a way for employees of the Dearborn Campus to get around in a more convenient, time savvy way. All it takes is just a few taps on your phone via their app.
“So here on campus I’ll have to go several times and I get in fairly early so I don’t want to lose my parking spot, so I can just go to this app, request a ride from Research to I-Tech, the shuttle will route, well the platform will route to me, and take me there with the promised time so I’ll know exactly what time I’m going to get there.”
The app isn’t the only thing convenient about the shuttle, though. The shuttle itself features a wide variety of little extras for each rider.
“Each passenger has a USB port, we have Wi-Fi for the passengers and we have an open aisle way down the middle to make access to get on and off the shuttle much easier. We have a cargo area so you can set your stuff in that cargo area so you know, here in Detroit, this winter is going to get kind of messy. You can put it up there and keep it dry.”
Although the Dynamic Shuttle is offered exclusively for Ford’s Dearborn Campus for the time being, it could one day expand to other locations globally, as well as working as transportation for delivery services, emergency medical transportation and beyond.
“The future is as the environment continues to grow, Ford has this platform running on our campus and we can grow this platform as the rest of the industry grows with it.”