Chariot (company)

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Chariot
Chariot company logo.png
Chariot van in San Francisco, January 2019.JPG
Chariot van in San Francisco in January 2019
FoundedMarch 2014;11 years ago (2014-03)
DefunctFebruary 1, 2019;6 years ago (2019-02-01)
Headquarters San Francisco
Service area
Service type
Chief executiveDan Grossman

Chariot was a commuter shuttle service owned by the Ford Motor Company. The company's mobile-phone application allowed passengers to ride a shuttle between home and work during commuting hours. Chariot operated in cities in the United States and Europe. New routes were determined based on demographic information and crowdsourced data. [1] [2] The company ceased shuttle operations in February 2019.

Contents

History

In March 2014, co-founders Ali Vahabzadeh and Romain Di Vuolo established Chariot after leaving their jobs at a real-estate start-up. After a summer in the nonprofit Tumml incubator, Chariot graduated from the program and expanded San Francisco coverage to the Marina, Financial District, SoMa, and Pacific Heights. [3]

On September 9, 2016, Ford CEO Mark Fields announced that the Ford Motor Company would be acquiring Chariot Transit Inc via their subsidiary Ford Smart Mobility for $65 million. [4] [5] In 2018 Ford Smart Mobility appointed Dan Grossman interim CEO while Ali Vahabzadeh continued to be involved in the company's progress as a board member. [6]

On January 10, 2019, Chariot announced that it would be ceasing operations as of March 2019. [7] The final day of operations was January 25, 2019, in the UK and February 1, 2019, in the US. [8]

Operation

The company operated 14-seat passenger vans along specific fixed routes, operating during weekday morning and evening commute hours only. As of June 2016, the company operated twenty-five routes. [9]

A commuter could access Chariot via a mobile web browser or its iPhone or Android mobile apps. After signing up and purchasing Chariot credits, they used the map to find a pickup stop. The commuter's boarding pass was displayed in the app in the form of a flashing code. As of May 2016, passengers had the option of pay-as-you-go; multi-ride packs of credits, such as $100 in credit for $95; or an all-access pass for $119. There were also pass packages for am-only riders or off-peak riders from $68 and $89 respectively. [10]

Cities

In the United States, Chariot operated in Austin, Texas; Chicago, Illinois; Columbus, Ohio; Denver, Colorado; [11] [12] Detroit, Michigan; Lake Tahoe, Nevada; Los Angeles, California; New York, New York; San Francisco Bay Area, California; and Seattle, Washington. [13]

In Denver, the University of Denver (DU) route was deemed a success. The other route, between downtown, Capitol Hill, and Cherry Creek gave only 110 rides over 2.5 months; the city paid $250,000 for six months of free rides on this route. [14]

In February 2018, Chariot Transit UK Ltd launched four services in Greater London in Kidbrooke, Belvedere, Battersea, and Wandsworth. [15] A fifth service to Stockley Park was proposed later in 2018. Due to poor uptake, Chariot announced that the London services would end in January 2019. [16]

References

  1. ↑ Cutler, Kim-Mai (10 November 2014). "As A Cohort of Bus Startups Emerge, Chariot Looks To Source New Routes Through Crowdfunding". TechCrunch. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  2. ↑ Suzdaltsev, Jules (10 November 2014). "Crowdsourced Bus Lines: A Viable MUNI Alternative?". The Bold Italic. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  3. ↑ Brownstein, Ronald (30 October 2014). "Forget dating apps. These millennials want to save the world". CNN Money. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  4. ↑ Ford is making a big change to its shuttle-bus service Chariot — and it could mean a huge new business opportunity, Business Insider
  5. ↑ Edelstein, Stephen (11 January 2019). "Ford Pulls the Plug on Its Chariot Shuttle Service After Just Two Years". The Drive. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
  6. ↑ "New Roads Ahead - Chariot". Archived from the original on 5 December 2018. Retrieved 4 December 2018.
  7. ↑ Rodriguez, Joe (10 January 2019). "Private bus company Chariot to cease operations by March". San Francisco Examiner. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  8. ↑ Korosec, Kirsten (10 January 2019). "Ford is shutting down its Chariot shuttle service". TechCrunch. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
  9. ↑ "In San Francisco, private transit that follows public routes — at a higher price". Associated Press. 17 May 2015. Retrieved 11 June 2015– via Omaha World-Herald.
  10. ↑ Lawler, Ryan (26 January 2015). "How SF-Based Shuttle Startup Chariot Crowdsourced Its New Commuter Route". TechCrunch. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  11. ↑ "You can now take a 'Chariot' in Denver". KMGH. 26 October 2018. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  12. ↑ "Denver, Transportation Solutions, Cherry Creek Business Community & Chariot Pilot New On-Demand Shuttle Service". www.denvergov.org. 25 October 2018. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  13. ↑ "Chariot - Cities". www.chariot.com. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  14. ↑ "Private 'transit' company Chariot is going out of business and so is the short-lived shuttle between Cherry Creek and downtown". Denverite. 10 January 2019. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  15. ↑ "Ford's Chariot commuter shuttle bus service has just started on four London routes". CityAM. 30 January 2018. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  16. ↑ Chowdhury, Hasan (11 January 2019). "Ford axes e-shuttle service Chariot just two years after takeover". The Telegraph. ISSN   0307-1235 . Retrieved 28 June 2023.
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