Ford Motor Co.'s Chariot Transit Inc. shuttle service is partnering with Dan Gilbert's family of companies to provide commuter service from select suburban locations to Quicken Loans Inc. and other Gilbert-owned businesses in downtown Detroit.

San Francisco-based Chariot launched the service Tuesday morning with six of its 14-passenger vans on three routes serving Quicken Loans, Bedrock LLC and other Gilbert employees who live in Lincoln Park, Allen Park and Dearborn; and Plymouth, Canton, Livonia; and Berkley, Ferndale and Royal Oak.

The shuttles for each route depart twice in the morning at designated park-and-ride locations and twice at pickup 4-7 p.m., said Kevin Bopp, vice president of parking and mobility for Bedrock, Gilbert's real-estate management company.

Over the next couple of months, Bedrock will monitor use of the service and whether employees want more pickup times and locations, Bopp said.

"This was a jumping-off point to inform what the community really wants," Bopp told Crain's. "... From there, we're going to let the audience dictate where this works."

Bedrock is paying Chariot to operate the free rides for employees as a pilot program, with plans of expanding the downtown commuter service to be open to the general public, Bopp said.

Bedrock declined to disclose the cost of Chariot's service.

"Once the service has really gained traction, our goal is to make these routes public facing," Bopp said. "We're building a demand case scenario internally. And then we look to make this publicly accessible."

For Chariot, the service for Bedrock is its first major foray into providing its microtransit services for a private business in metro Detroit.

"We are very eager to support any of our enterprise customers in their interest in ... having the public board their routes," said Kate Roberts, vice president of markets for Chariot. "I think there's a big opportunity here in Detroit."

Chariot, which operates in nine U.S. markets, has been trying to grow its enterprise accounts with business and governments for limited-service routes.

"We're absolutely excited and eager to get additional customers, enterprise businesses, here in the area," Roberts said.

Ford bought Chariot for $65 million in 2016 and has been using the vans to shuttle employees between its new Corktown office and headquarters in Dearborn, where Chariot has based its regional operations. Earlier this year, Chariot began advertising for employee drivers in the metro Detroit market.

Bedrock announced the service Monday internally to employees of Rock Holdings, the parent company of Gilbert's family of companies.

For the pilot project, Bedrock found 4,000 employees live within three or four miles of the designated pickup locations in the suburbs, Bopp said.

The pickup locations are a combination of designated park-and-ride lots and parking lots of Meijer and Walmart stores.

Chariot also recently began operating a service for the cities of Ferndale and Pleasant Ridge to shuttle residents between Pleasant Ridge's business district on Livernois Avenue and Ferndale's central business district along Woodward Avenue and alleviate parking congestion downtown.

"Ferndale is paying for that as a way to increase commerce," Roberts said.

Ferndale, Pleasant Ridge and the Ferndale Downtown Development Authority are paying $76,920 for seven months of the service, said Joseph Gacioch, Ferndale's assistant city manager.

"The service is also meant to provide a channel of relief for those impacted by the reconstruction of Livernois," Gacioch said in an email. The Livernois project began in June is scheduled to be complete by November.

"The Livernois on-street parking will be completely removed during construction and the shuttle provides an alternative transportation option to get customers and employees to the corridor and could alleviate increased demand for limited off-street parking," Gacioch said.