May Mobility, an autonomous vehicle technology developer, and Stantec, a design and engineering firm, announced a partnership Tuesday to develop “turnkey AV microtransit solutions,” the companies said in a press release.
Microtransit consists of “small-scale, on-demand public transit services that can offer fixed routes and schedules, as well as flexible routes and on-demand scheduling,” according to the American Public Transportation Association website.
Established in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 2017, May Mobility has partnered with Via since 2021 to provide on-demand microtransit using AVs in three cities: Arlington, Texas; Ann Arbor, Michigan; and Grand Rapids, Minnesota. The two companies recently announced plans to bring “thousands more AVs into the public transit systems of cities around the globe.”
May Mobility is transitioning its fleet to the Toyota Sienna Autono-MaaS (a reference to mobility-as-a-service) minivan, a hybrid-electric vehicle produced in Indiana and outfitted by BraunAbility to be wheelchair accessible, a spokesperson said.
May Mobility and Stantec “will collaborate on infrastructure developments and formally pursue opportunities to implement AVs across a range of commercial and municipal locations globally,” the press release said.
“Working together, we can create and implement innovative AV solutions for different communities and deliver turnkey AV deployments that are optimized for each location,” Manik Dhar, chief commercial officer for May Mobility, said in the press release.
Corey Clothier, founder and director of Stantec GenerationAV, said in the press release that “our partnership with May Mobility is an important next step in our mission to bring safe, equitable and accessible autonomous transportation solutions to communities around the world.”
Editor’s note: We have corrected this article’s description of the Toyota Sienna Autono-MaaS minvan. It is a hybrid-electric vehicle.
