Daimler and Bosch launch automated on-demand ride-hailing service in San José
Using automated Mercedes-Benz S-Class vehicles, Daimler and Bosch propose to offer the service to a selected user community in the San Carlos/Stevens Creek corridor between downtown and west San José.
Piyush Rajan 15 mins ago 3 2 minutes read
Daimler and Bosch launch automated on-demand ride-hailing service in San José
Daimler and Bosch have announced that San José has been selected to be the pilot city for trials of the highly and fully automated driving (SAE Level 4/5) on-demand ride-hailing service. San José is the third biggest city in California and is located on the southern shore of San Francisco Bay in Silicon Valley.The trials are targeted to begin during the second half of 2019.
The three parties have signed a memorandum of understanding to pursue and finalize this activity. Using automated Mercedes-Benz S-Class vehicles, Daimler and Bosch propose to offer the service to a selected user community in the San Carlos/Stevens Creek corridor between downtown and west San José.
With its population expected to grow 40 percent in the next two decades, the metropolitan area faces growing transportation challenges. Moreover, San José wants to prepare itself for a future in which autonomous cars hit the streets.
The on-demand ride-hailing service app operated by Daimler Mobility Services will demonstrate how mobility services such as car sharing (car2go), ride-hailing (mytaxi) and multi-modal platforms (moovel) can be intelligently connected.
The test operation will provide information about how highly and fully automated vehicles can be integrated into a multi-modal transportation network. The intent is to provide a seamless digital experience, in which a selected user community will have the opportunity to hail a self-driving car, monitored by a safety driver, from a designated pick-up location and drive automatically to their destination.
With their joint development work on highly and fully automated driving (SAE level 4/5) in urban environments, Daimler and Bosch aim to improve the flow of traffic in cities, enhance road safety, and provide an important building block for the way traffic will work in the future.
Among other things, with cars coming to drivers, not the other way around, the technology will boost the attraction of car sharing. Without compromising driving safety, it will allow people to make the best possible use of their time they spend in their vehicles, and open up new mobility opportunities for people without a driver’s licence.
Daimler and Bosch associates involved in the development project work together in teams in two regions: in the greater Stuttgart area in Germany and, in the United States, around Sunnyvale in Silicon Valley between San José and of San Francisco.
The companies`associates are jointly developing the concepts and algorithms for the highly and fully automated drive system. Daimler’s task is to bring the drive system into the car. The company is providing the necessary development vehicles, test facilities, and vehicles for the test fleet. Bosch is responsible for the components specified during the development work, such as sensors, actuators, and control units.
For test purposes, the partners use their laboratories and test rigs, plus their respective test sites in Germany. Since obtaining its Autonomous Vehicle Testing Permit from the California Department of Motor Vehicles in 2014, Mercedes-Benz has been testing automated vehicles in the Sunnyvale/California region. And since 2016, it has had similar approval for the greater Stuttgart area in Germany. In early 2013, Bosch was the world’s first automotive supplier to test automated driving (SAE level 3) on public roads in Germany and in the United States.