Drive.ai vehicle for Frisco project.
You won’t have to go to California to see the latest on-demand self-driving technology. Just head down the road to Frisco.
On Monday, May 7, Drive.ai, the City of Frisco, and local partners announced they will launch the first on-demand self-driving transportation service in Texas, beginning in July.
Working in cooperation with the Frisco Transportation Management Association (TMA), Drive.ai will offer rides to over 10,000 people in self-driving vehicles within a geofenced area comprised of retail, entertainment, and office space.
The initial pilot will run for six months, beginning with fixed pickup and drop-off locations around HALL Park and The Star, and with planned expansion into Frisco Station.
“Frisco is recognized as a leader in using ‘smart,’ innovative traffic technologies,” said Frisco Mayor Jeff Cheney. “Drive.ai’s autonomous vehicles will help people get around one of our most vibrant, commercial areas along Frisco’s ‘North Platinum Corridor.’ We applaud the collaboration of the Denton County Transportation Authority, as well as our private partners at HALL Park, Frisco Station and The Star, which gave the green light, so to speak, to this pioneering pilot program. Today definitely marks a mobility milestone for our entire region. It also gets us closer to achieving one of our council’s ‘Top Ten’ goals, which is to improve traffic throughout Frisco, one of the fastest growing cities in the country.”
Mountain View, California-based Drive.ai’s self-driving on-demand service will be operated in conjunction with Frisco TMA, a public-private partnership organized provide last-mile transportation options Frisco.
The Frisco TMA includes the City of Frisco, HALL Group, Frisco Station Partners, The Star, and the Denton County Transportation Authority, which will administer the program.
Leading up to the July launch date, office employees, residents, and patrons of these partners’ Frisco developments will gradually on-board into the program, gaining access to Drive.ai’s ride-hailing smartphone app. Once the program is live, riders will use the app to hail complimentary on-demand rides in self-driving cars that connect to popular destinations.
Signage will be placed throughout the route, the vehicles will be painted a highly-visible orange, and they will feature four external screens that communicate the vehicles’ intended actions to pedestrians and other drivers on the roads.
“Self-driving cars are here, and can improve the way we live right now,” said Sameep Tandon, co-founder and CEO of Drive.ai. “Our technology is safe, smart, and adaptive, and we are ready to work with governments and businesses to solve their transportation needs. Working with the City of Frisco and Frisco TMA, this pilot program will take people to the places they want to go and transform the way they experience transportation.”
Drive.ai was founded in 2015 by graduate students out of Stanford University’s Artificial Intelligence Lab, Drive.ai has over 100 employees, with locations in Mountain View, California and Frisco. Drive.ai has raised about $77 million in funding, in September getting a $15 million investment from Grab, a rival to Uber based in Asia.
More information on the pilot program can be found at RideFriscoAV.com. More details on Drive.ai can be found at www.drive.ai/