The Current State of Self Driving Cars
Back in May of 2019, we wrote How Driverless Cars will Affect Transportation. A lot has changed in the driverless car space since then and we thought it would be a good idea to write an update.
100,000 Self-Driving Rides for Lyft 🚙
Lyft and their autonomous mobility partner Aptiv, have been offering self-driving rides in Las Vegas for over a year and just completed their 100,000th ride. The self-driving vehicle option becomes available in the Lyft app if one of their vehicles is nearby for you to try. For now, there is a driver that sits in the front seat ready to take over, however the plan, of course, for all self-driving vehicles is to get to a point where that isn’t needed. Most recently, the service area in Las Vegas expanded to include McCarran Airport for pickups and drop-offs.
More Info: Lyft Blog
Waymo One Celebrates Its 1st Birthday 🥳
Waymo (formerly known as the Google Self-Driving Car Project) celebrated its 1st Birthday for their Waymo One self-driving car service. Currently operating in Phoenix, Detroit and other limited areas around the United States. In that time Waymo has also provided over 100,000 rides and has seen monthly ridership increase to 1,500 users each month.
More info: Waymo Blog
ANA Tests Autonomous Busses in Tokyo 🚌
The parent company of All Nippon Airways, Japan’s national airline, has began testing self-driving busses at Haneda airport in Tokyo, Japan. These busses will operate on a 1.9 km route carrying passengers and employees around the airport. With the Tokyo Olympics on the horizon, ANA hopes that these self driving busses will be seen and used by visitors from all over the world.
More info: ANA
Didi Granted Robotaxi License in China 🤖🚕
Asian ride sharing giant Didi Chuxing has been approved to operate a robotaxi service in Shanghai, China with their partner, Lyft. There have been no announcements as to when the any self-driving service will launch, however, the size of opportunity here is something to keep an eye on. Didi is the largest ride sharing provider in the world and China is the biggest world market.
More info: Reuters
Driverless Public Transit Shuttle in Toronto 🇨🇦
The West Rouge neighbourhood of our hometown of Toronto has been approved as the first test area for autonomous vehicles. West Rouge is not well serviced by existing public transportation routes and these shuttles are designed to connect residents to the TTC or GO Transit hubs. Expect to see electric self driving vehicles (with a TTC employee on board) no earlier than September 2020.
More info: Toronto
