Ford CEO promises autonomous vehicles for mass transit by 2021

Ford on Tuesday announced plans to release fully autonomous and driverless ride-sharing vehicles by 2021. Ford CEO Mark Fields, speaking at the automaker's Research and Innovation center in Palo Alto, also pledged to double the company's Silicon Valley workforce and expand its facilities by 150,000 square feet by the end of this year. Additionally, Ford and Chinese search engine company Baidu are investing a combined 150 million in Velodyne LiDAR, makers of light, detection and ranging technology for 3D digital imaging. For self-driving cars, Velodyne's technology uses a combination of light, cameras and laser-based sensors to assess a surrounding environment and create a 360-degree view that can be used for mapping, localization, object identification and collision avoidance. The Morgan Hill, Calif.-based company wants to use the funding to improve design, expand production and accelerate mass adoption of its technology.