Uber plans to test self-driving cars called robotaxis, which will operate without a human safety driver in London next spring.
Uber will carry out this trial in partnership with Wayve, a UK-based artificial intelligence company.
So far, Wayve has been testing these cars on London's roads, but with a human inside to supervise them, as required by the law, as per BBC.
Timeline update:
The announcement comes at a time when the UK government has once again changed its timeline for allowing driverless cars on public roads.
Originally, the government had planned for these vehicles to be in use by 2026 but then delayed the date to the second half of 2027.
The company now explained that it will create a faster process that allows for commercial small “bus and taxi like” services to start up sooner.
But the company has not said yet if the vehicles in the trial will be available for normal customers to order.
However, it has indicated it wants to include the feature for UK users after legislation change allows them to be part of the daily menu.
Driverless industry to boost UK economy:
According to the Department for Transport, the industry could make space for 38,000 new jobs and add £42bn to the UK economy by the year 2035.
Uber started a robotaxi service in Austin, Texas earlier this year and explained that the driverless cars may work for 20 hours daily and seven days every week.
As per the reports, if a robotaxi is shown as an option, customers can take one without having to pay any extra for the service.
On the other hand, in June, Tesla also plans to release a competitor service in the location as well.
It is pertinent to note that, driverless cars have already traveled far on the roads in China, the UAE and Singapore, although it is not yet known if they are safer than cars driven by humans.
