 | |
 Chariot van in San Francisco in January 2019 | |
| Founded | March 2014; 11 years ago (2014-03) |
|---|---|
| Defunct | February 1, 2019; 6 years ago (2019-02-01) |
| Headquarters | San Francisco |
| Service area | |
| Service type | |
| Chief executive | Dan Grossman |
Chariot was acommuter shuttle service owned by theFord Motor Company. The company'smobile-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.
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 nonprofitTumml incubator, Chariot graduated from the program and expanded San Francisco coverage tothe Marina,Financial District,SoMa, andPacific Heights.[3]
On September 9, 2016, Ford CEOMark Fields announced that theFord 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]
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]
In the United States, Chariot operated inAustin, 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; andSeattle, Washington.[13]
In Denver, theUniversity of Denver (DU) route was deemed a success. The other route, betweendowntown,Capitol Hill, andCherry 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 inGreater London inKidbrooke,Belvedere,Battersea, andWandsworth.[15] A fifth service toStockley Park was proposed later in 2018. Due to poor uptake, Chariot announced that the London services would end in January 2019.[16]
Bus operators inLondon | |
|---|---|
| London | |
| National | |
| Divisions/ marques |
|  | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subsidiaries |
| |||||
| Joint ventures and shareholdings |
| |||||
| Facilities and products | ||||||
| People |
| |||||
| Racing teams | ||||||
| Related topics | ||||||
