Robotaxi startup May Mobility has launched its first driverless service on public roads in Sun City, Arizona.
The robotaxis will operate daily during the week without an operator sitting in the driver’s seat. Sun City will be the first of many communities where May Mobility aims to launch its rider-only transit servers.
The move comes as the robotaxi market and the autonomous vehicle segment are under increased scrutiny after General Motors decided to cut spending on its autonomous arm Cruise Automation after one of its vehicles was involved in a car accident and the California Department of Motor vehicles removed its license to operate driverless vehicles in the state.
The company’s multi-policy decision making (MPDM) system runs real-time, on-board simulations to analyze thousands of scenarios every second, choosing the safest one to execute. The technology allows vehicles to be adept at handling edge cases and enables May Mobility to scale more efficiently, the company said.
Before and after
Prior to its launch of driverless services, May Mobility said it has been operating on public roads in Sun City with a safety operator in April of this year. It also launched an on-demand autonomous public transit service with Via to transport a retirement community in Sun City to give them increased freedom and mobility.
The first rider-only service will allow riders to get picked up in a Toyota Sienna Autono-MaaS vehicles from a variety of stops. The service will operate at no cost to riders initially. After the launch of the Sun City project, May Mobility will expand its rider-only services as part of its strategy to expand to other cities, transit agencies and municipalities.
