May Mobility Prepares To Get Automated Ride Service Back On The Road In Grand Rapids

Ann Arbor, Michigan-based May Mobility is preparing to relaunch its automated mobility service in Grand Rapids, Mich. at the end of August. When the low-speed electric shuttles start again, they will be carrying passengers for the first time since pandemic lockdowns started in March 2020. I recently visited May in Grand Rapids to learn more about what has changed.

Like a number of other companies developing automated mobility services, May utilizes the Polaris GEM six-seat electric shuttle. These low-speed electric vehicles aren’t particularly sophisticated and they’ve been largely unchanged since the original GEM eL was introduced in 1998 as a utility truck. The same basic vehicle is now offered by Polaris with two, four or six seats as well as the utility truck. Over the past two decades, these vehicles have become a common site on many business and educational campuses, resorts and closed communities where their quiet operation and 25 mph top speed fit right in. 

May’s six-seaters have been modified to make them better suited to the task with the second row turned around to face the rear creating a four-seat carriage layout with just two larger doors for easier access. In addition to two forward facing cameras, the shuttles have a pair of radar sensors in the front bumper and three different types of lidar sensors. A Velodyne rotating puck sensor sits on the roof and there are two Cepton lidar sensors in the bumper angled out to provide 180 degree view from down closer to street level. Nine more Leddartech short-range flash lidar sensors are mounted on the front, back and each side to help detect pedestrians, cyclists and animals. 

Since the pandemic began, May has been modifying its vehicles further by adding a plexiglass partition between the front seats where the fleet attendant/safety driver sits and passenger area.  Each shuttle is now also equipped with three grēnlite UV-C lamps made by automotive supplier GHSP and a hand sanitizer dispenser. Two of the UV-C lamps are mounted on the roof in the passenger area with the third being in the front compartment. 

May’s shuttles in Grand Rapids follows the same 3.2-mile loop through the downtown and west side of the city utilized by the DASH mini-bus service. Prior to the pandemic, the shuttles would stop at any of the 20 stops on the loop to pickup and drop off passengers just as a bus would. From the program launch in July 2019 until March 2020, May was averaging about 500 rides per day with its seven vehicle fleet. 

When service resumes on Aug. 31, the shuttles will follow the same route, but the operational mode will be quite different. Rather than passengers sharing rides, with random people, trips will now be limited to individuals or groups up to four that live together.

At the end of each leg, after passengers get out, the vehicle will go through a sanitizing process before more passengers can get in. The safety driver will get out, lock the doors and start the UV-C lamps. The whole cycle will take about five minutes before the driver and new passengers can get in for another trip. At the end of each shift, a hydrogen peroxide fogger is used to sanitize the entire interior.  

From a purely economic point of view, this is less than ideal. There will be far lower utilization of the service than before and passengers will potentially have to wait longer for a ride. However, this is an absolute necessity in order to build trust among potential riders that the cabin of the May shuttles is a safe place to spend a few minutes. Given the relatively empty streets I saw in Grand Rapids near lunchtime on a normal working Friday, it seems unlikely that there will be a mad rush of riders anyway. 

The rides in Grand Rapids are free to passengers with the cost of the service being underwritten by a number of area businesses. The office and garage space used by May Mobility in the city is provided by Rockford Construction. Of the seven shuttles in the city, one has also been configured with a wheelchair ramp and anchors to restrain chairs while the vehicle is in motion. 

May Mobility also has shuttle service in downtown Detroit that is sponsored by Quicken Loans but no restart date has been announced for that program. Two other pilots in Providence, Rhode Island and Columbus, Ohio have ended, but May hopes to launch service in several other cities by the end of the year, depending on how the pandemic progresses. For the time being, Grand Rapids will be the only operational location for May Mobility and the only such service known to be equipped with a UV-C sanitizing system. It will be interesting see what sort of ridership May is able to achieve in the coming months.