Ford is acquiring another transit technology firm, Journey Holding, and expanding its efforts to reach beyond automobile manufacturing to help cities plan more seamless, efficient transportation networks.
Why it matters: Under CEO James Hackett, the 116-year-old carmaker is trying to reinvent itself as a mobility services provider. By collaborating with cities, civic organizations and urban planners, Ford wants to position itself as the orchestrator of multi-modal transportation systems, from scooter rental to mass transit and even future robo-taxis.
"We won’t provide all the modes, but we can be the trusted partner to bring things together for their customers," says Brett Wheatley, vice president of marketing and growth for Ford Smart Mobility LLC.
Details:
Journey, created in 2018 through a merger between DoubleMap Inc. and Ride Systems LLC., will combine with TransLoc, a transit tech firm Ford already owns, to provide software and data analysis in an attempt to solve urban transportation problems.
Journey CEO Justin Rees will lead the new group, which has 200 employees and nearly 1,200 customers, including cities, universities, corporate campuses and others.
