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Uber and Wayve win London minicab licenses for driver-assisted taxis
Transport for London granted 15 private hire vehicle licences, with a licensed driver onboard while the firms plan a later shift to driverless service approval.
Uber and Wayve have been granted the first minicab licences in London that allow them to offer self-driving taxi rides to paying customers, at least initially with a human safety driver in place, according to the Guardian Business.
The companies said they plan to start trips in the UK “later this summer” before a full public launch, with more than 100,000 Londoners on their waiting list for the autonomous taxi service. The firms are racing to launch in London alongside competitors including Google-owned Waymo and Baidu’s Apollo Go.
Transport for London, the capital’s licensing authority, issued 15 private hire vehicle licences to Ford Mustang Mach-E vehicles equipped with Wayve’s artificial intelligence driving software, along with surround cameras and radar. During trips, a TfL-licensed private hire driver will sit in the driver’s seat to intervene if necessary, even though the companies expect the software to control the car.
Uber and Wayve said the next step, operating the taxis without a driver, will require approval via a new automated passenger services permit process involving the UK government’s Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency. TfL said it would monitor vehicle use and intervene if passenger safety is compromised, citing its Vision Zero goal of eliminating all deaths and serious injuries from collisions on London’s streets by 2041.