May Mobility, which was founded last year and charges a monthly fee for its shuttle service, plans to use the seed money from BMW and Toyota to expand in Texas and Florida. Photo: BloombergNew York: As automakers spend billions to rack up autonomous miles and map city streets, Toyota Motor Corp. and BMW AG are also betting on a start-up with a more modest approach. By running 1kilometre routes on repeat, the shuttles are gathering critical information in the path toward full autonomy. “Something we can give them access to is that early rider-experience data that we’re collecting,” said chief executive officer Ed Olson. The company will hire technicians to service and clean the shuttles, as well as supervise the routes.

Source: Mint February 26, 2018 14:26 UTC