You probably haven\u2019t heard of autonomous vehicle operator May Mobility because the Ann Arbor, Michigan-based company is exceptionally good at avoiding the types of headlines generated by other AV companies. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
In its six years in operation, there haven\u2019t been any injuries, crashes, blocked intersections, or mass layoffs. While there have been some struggles, the company has proven to be an outlier among AV operators by continuing to raise money<\/a> while others have seen their funding dry up<\/a>. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n And now, May Mobility is ready to go fully driverless, a milestone that has the company taking stock of its successes \u2014\u00a0and looking ahead to the future. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThe most capital-efficient AV company that the world has ever seen\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not robotaxis,\u201d May Mobility CEO Edwin Olson said of his company\u2019s business model. \u201cWe\u2019re selling long-term transportation contracts, primarily to businesses and governments, which builds us a really easy on-ramp to deploy the technology step by step, keeping our burn rate low. And being really the most capital-efficient AV company that the world has ever seen.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Robotaxi ventures like Waymo and Cruise say the future of autonomous driving is an Uber-like service in dense cities. They argue that the only way to recoup the costs of developing the technology is to run a 24\/7 service without safety drivers, targeting as broad a section of consumers as possible. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n That is not May Mobility\u2019s strategy, which is instead focused on fixed-route transportation in geofenced, easily mapped business districts, college campuses, and closed residential communities. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cOur strategy here is to really stack the deck in our favor,\u201d Olson said. \u201cI think most people think about rider-only as being like a technological milestone. And it is, but it\u2019s way more than that.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cOur strategy here is to really stack the deck in our favor.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n May\u2019s first fully driverless service on public roads will launch in Sun City, Arizona, a retirement community outside of Phoenix. The company is working with app-based microtransit service Via to connect it with potential riders. Its vehicles \u2014 Toyota Sienna minivans retrofitted with autonomous sensors and hardware \u2014 will be free to use but will only operate Monday through Friday in the afternoons. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n While Phoenix has its fair share of driverless vehicles \u2014 Waymo operates there, as did Cruise before a pedestrian injury in San Francisco forced it to ground its fleet \u2014 Sun City hasn\u2019t seen as much activity. But Olson says it\u2019s perfect for May\u2019s first driverless service. The lanes are wide, the pedestrian walkways are separate and protected, and the weather is mostly sunny and clear. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWe want to start in the most slam-dunk kinds of environments,\u201d Olson said. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n There has been no shortage of challenges. May\u2019s first vehicle platform was a modified GEM shuttle that could carry around six passengers. But the vehicle struggled in inclement weather and would break down frequently, according to a 2020 story in VentureBeat<\/em><\/a>. Moreover, the company found it difficult to achieve Level 4 operations in which a safety driver could be removed from the vehicle. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n And its municipal partners were starting to get frustrated by the slow progress. A top Rhode Island official slammed May in a 2019 interview<\/a>, criticizing the company\u2019s inability to prove its vehicles were safer than human drivers and failing to equip its shuttles with working air conditions. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n But May has shown perseverance. While other companies have shuttered or been shut down, the firm continues to putter along, currently operating in four cities. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWe have had incidents. Most of them not our fault,\u201d Olson said. \u201cYou know, these downtown environments can be chaotic and complex.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWe have had incidents. Most of them not our fault.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Much like other AV companies, May\u2019s driverless vehicles will be monitored by a team of remote employees. The vehicles aren\u2019t being joysticked \u2014 which is to say, they aren\u2019t remote-operated \u2014 but the remote monitors can send suggestions when problems arise. Even so, the vehicle can choose to override the suggestion if it decides the situation is unsafe, Olson said. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Robotaxi companies like Cruise generated praise from some customers but also outrage for incidents in which its vehicles blocked emergency vehicles or created traffic headaches<\/a>. Olson said that May won\u2019t have the same problems because its customers are the cities themselves. May is incentivized to address municipal concerns or risk having its contract terminated. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n