Chariot (company)
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 | |
 Chariot van in San Francisco in January 2019 | |
| Founded | March 2014 |
|---|---|
| Defunct | February 1, 2019 |
| Headquarters | San Francisco |
| Service area | |
| Service type | |
| Chief executive | Dan Grossman |
Chariot was a commuter shuttle service owned by the Ford Motor Company. The company's mobile-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 nonprofit Tumml incubator, Chariot graduated from the program and expanded San Francisco coverage to the Marina, Financial District, SoMa, and Pacific Heights.[3]
On September 9, 2016, Ford CEO Mark Fields announced that the Ford 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]
