Senior Living Communities in Arizona Score First Autonomous Ride Tests
Toyota-backed self-driving car start-up, May Mobility, has announced that Sun City, Arizona residents are among the first to test their autonomous vehicles without a human safety driver. Starting in the afternoons, eligible seniors can request a Toyota Sienna minivan through the On-Demand Transport service Via to go to neighborhoods, medical centers, and other destinations. The Early Rider test group includes seniors with varying transportation needs, helping May Mobility gather feedback and advance autonomous technology for senior communities.
Edwin Olson, CEO of May Mobility, told CNN, "We have an aging population – people either can't drive or shouldn't drive, but if they don't have access to transportation services because our cities have grown so large, their quality of life really suffers. They can't go to the grocery store, they can't go to the doctor, they can't participate in leisure activities." May Mobility sees providing vehicles in these locations as not only beneficial but also a social responsibility.
Autonomous minivans by May Mobility are currently available for free on weekday afternoons on public roads in Sun City. While the self-driving vehicle is in motion, a remote team of May Mobility operators oversee and communicate with the vehicle. Any Sun City resident is eligible to apply as an 'Early Rider,' though May Mobility expressed intentions to significantly expand the autonomous service beyond the test group.
Although May Mobility introduced its On-Demand vehicles to public streets in Sun City in April, they had initially employed a human safety driver during the testing phase. These tests were sponsored by AARP, and financing didn't begin until May. May Mobility is also testing autonomous rides with safety personnel in cities like Texas, Michigan, and Minnesota.
The collaboration with senior living communities, cities, and transportation authorities has led May Mobility to transition into a test phase, as some of the company's main competitors face challenges. Waymo of Alphabet obtained a license to operate in San Francisco in August and introduced a Robotaxi pickup service at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport in December. Meanwhile, Cruise, a self-driving unit from General Motors Co., cut nearly a quarter of its employees in December after an autonomous vehicle accidentally struck a pedestrian in San Francisco's downtown area. Funding for the project was reduced following the incident, leading to Cruise having its licence to test self-driving taxis revoked by California regulatory bodies.
"We're not robotaxi services. We're micromobility companies that work with cities to address their most pressing transportation challenges," Olson said to CNN. "In many cases, that means we work with the city as our customer."
Since May Mobility's founding in 2017, the company has undergone scrutiny, including from esteemed accelerator Y Combinator – home to other successful startups like Airbnb, Cruise, DoorDash, and Dropbox. In 2019, officials voiced concerns about the lack of climate control in the shuttle, the slow introduction of wheelchair-accessible vehicles, and various weather conditions requiring human intervention.
[1] Source:
[2] "Arizona senior living communities get first self-driving car test ride" – edition.cnn.com, accessed March 2023
[3] "May Mobility autonomous vehicles in use in Peachtree Corners" – Atlanta Journal-Constitution, August 2021
[4] "Waymo self-driving cars could enter Phoenix market as early as 2023" – AZCentral, February 2022
