That’s right: The maker of the rugged Ford F-150 and powerful Ford Mustang is about to launch the GoBike bicycle-sharing service in the U.S.
Through a partnership with Motivate, which operates in San Francisco and the Bay Area, Ford will add more transportation options for residents and visitors. The Ford GoBikes are similar to Bixi and Velib bicycles, and the plan is to have 7,000 of them ready for 2018 (there are 700 right now).
Meanwhile, Ford has just acquired Chariot, a crowd-sourced shuttle service also based in San Francisco. Started in 2014, Chariot operates nearly 100 Ford Transit shuttles along 28 routes throughout the area. Ford hopes to expand it beyond San Francisco to at least five additional markets in the next 18 months.
“We’re expanding our business to be both an auto and a mobility company, and partnering with cities on current and future transportation needs is the next major step,” said Mark Fields, Ford president and CEO. “For more than 100 years, Ford has been part of the community and the trusted source for automotive transportation. Now, we want to work with communities to offer even more transportation choices and solutions for people ― for decades to come.”
