Lyft, Ford And Argo AI To Launch Autonomous Rideshare Service In Miami

(RTTNews) - Ride-hailing service Lyft Inc. (LYFT) has teamed up with with autonomous vehicle technology startup Argo AI and its Ford Motor Co. (F) to launch at least 1,000 self-driving vehicles on Lyft's ride-hailing network over the next five years, starting with Miami and Austin.

Ford's autonomous vehicles, powered by the Argo Self-Driving System, on Lyft's ridesharing network will be made available for ridesharing in Miami later this year and in Austin starting in 2022.

"This collaboration marks the first time all the pieces of the autonomous vehicle puzzle have come together this way," Lyft co-founder and CEO Logan Green said. "Each company brings the scale, knowledge and capability in their area of expertise that is necessary to make autonomous ride-hailing a business reality."

"This collaboration is special because we're executing on a shared vision for improving the safety, access to and affordability of transportation in our cities," said Bryan Salesky, founder and CEO, Argo AI. "Beyond the link that Lyft provides to the customer, we'll be able to work together to define where an autonomous service will benefit communities the most and ensure we're deploying the technology safely."

As part of the agreement, Argo will use anonymized service and fleet data from Lyft in exchange of Lyft receiving 2.5% of the common equity of Argo AI.