Uber has launched autonomous ride-hailing services in Austin, Texas, through a partnership with Waymo, marking a significant expansion of its driverless vehicle operations. The service will cover a 95-square-kilometer area in high-demand parts of the city, with passengers incurring no additional cost for selecting a self-driving car.
Uber riders using UberX, Uber Green, Uber Comfort, or Uber Comfort Electric may be matched with a Waymo-operated, all-electric Jaguar I-Pace. Customers will also have the option to request a human driver before a driverless car is dispatched. Through the Uber app, users can unlock the vehicle, begin their trip, and access customer support, while new settings will allow them to prioritize Waymo rides over traditional vehicles.
“At launch, riders can travel across 37 square miles of Austin – from Hyde Park to Downtown to Montopolis – with plans to expand in the future,” Uber said in a statement, though it did not disclose the number of vehicles in operation.
Waymo’s head of business development and partnerships, Nicole Gavel, told Forbes that Uber has exclusive rights to the company’s autonomous vehicles in Austin. Unlike in other cities where Waymo operates, Uber will oversee ride-booking and fleet maintenance, including charging, servicing, and tire upkeep.
Waymo, which already offers over 200,000 paid rides per week across San Francisco, Phoenix, and Los Angeles, plans to expand the partnership to Atlanta next, with manual tests scheduled for San Diego and Las Vegas. The move comes as Tesla prepares to introduce its own robotaxi service in June, though the automaker has yet to demonstrate a fully driverless system operating on public roads without supervision.
Source: EVMagz