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If you ask people like ARK Investment’s Cathie Wood and Tesla’s Elon Musk about the future of mobility, they’ll likely say one word: robotaxis.
It’s pretty easy to see why.
Companies like Google (Google) Waymo and General Motors (General Motors) Cruise gave ordinary people a glimpse of a future that could only be realized in the best science fiction movies and TV shows: a future where humans don’t have to drive.
Simply put, the app allows them to call a self-driving car to transport passengers to their destinations.
A prominent new partnership would make that easier, but it also raises concerns about the people it will leave behind.
Uber’s Robotic Taxis Transformation
Uber (Uber) On August 22, Uber announced a “multi-year strategic partnership” with Cruise to offer rides in its self-driving vehicles through the Uber ride-sharing app.
Starting in 2025, Uber users will be able to ride in one of Cruise’s self-driving Chevrolet Bolt cars on “qualifying trips.”
The partnership with Cruise isn’t Uber’s first foray into self-driving vehicles. The multinational technology and transportation company has partnered with Google subsidiary Waymo to offer self-driving rides, and it experimented with Uber-branded robotic taxis in 2022.
According to Uber and Cruise executives, the motivation behind the partnership is to expand the reach of self-driving vehicles to as many people as possible. By partnering with Uber, Cruise is able to cast as wide a net as possible for potential customers.
“Cruise seeks to leverage autonomous driving technology to create safer streets and redefine urban life,” said Mark Whitten, CEO of Cruise. “We are excited to partner with Uber to bring the benefits of safe, reliable, autonomous driving to more people, and usher in a new era of urban mobility.”
In a statement to GizmodoThe first city to have Uber-orderable robotaxi will be either Phoenix, Dallas or Houston, a Cruise spokesperson said.
Uber vs. Taxi vs. Robotaxi: The Evolution of Displacement
Cruise’s partnership with Uber comes as GM-backed robotaxi projects are making a major comeback.
Previously, Cruz’s license was suspended in California after October 2023 Incident A self-driving vehicle hit a pedestrian who was walking in the street without observing traffic rules in San Francisco, and as a result the company temporarily closed its doors. Its automated taxi operations, Restart with Supervised flights to Phoenix, Houston and Dallas in June 2024.
Uber’s partnership with the two biggest names in robotaxi poses an interesting dilemma in the grand scheme of the future of transportation.
Uber and other ride-sharing services like Lyft have inadvertently displaced taxis in major cities like New York, where its 13,000 drivers compete in a sea of more than 100,000 ride-sharing app drivers.
Throughout its existence, Uber has been She fought her drivers. in multiple cities thanks to its business model that incorrectly classifies its drivers as independent contractors rather than employees.
But with robot taxis, drivers are removed from the equation.
More electric car work:
- Waymo Invents a New Way to Bring Chaos to Quiet City Streets
- Gavin Newsom’s Electric Vehicle Mandate Threatened by U.S. Supreme Court
- BMW’s New Smart EV App Is a Privacy Nightmare
In the summer of 2023, taxi and ride-sharing drivers in Uber’s hometown of San Francisco spoke out against the expansion of Waymo and Cruise into the city, saying they were adding competition and cutting into their profits at a time when the costs of being a taxi or ride-sharing driver were rising.
“It’s a great way to drive,” said Jose Gazo, an Uber driver for seven years. San Francisco Standard In June 2023, he found himself driving longer hours and making less money.
“We’re already seeing it,” Gazzo said. “With business going on like this, we’re going to be homeless.”
On August 10, 2023, the California Public Utilities Commission granted Waymo and Cruise the ability to operate 24/7 with an unlimited fleet of vehicles in all city areas.
Before the measure passed on a 3-1 vote, California Public Utilities Commission officials heard six hours of public comment, including from Rosen, an Uber driver based in San Francisco.
“If we allow self-driving taxis to expand, it will deprive families of job opportunities. I am a single mother.” The BBC reported: Rosen says.
However, experts believe this concern is exaggerated.
"These things are expensive. Waymo’s entire cost for this vehicle is about $300,000. This isn’t going to financially replace the driver anytime soon," He says @Emil Michael About Robotaxi. pic.twitter.com/vuKGsoorsD
— Last Call (@LastCallCNBC) June 24, 2024
In a June 2024 appearance on CNBC’s “Last Call,” former Uber CEO Emil Michael claimed there were practical and financial barriers before Waymo and Cruise’s robotaxis could effectively emulate something like Uber.
Federal organization Manufacturers limit production of driverless cars to 2,500 annually, which may limit the number of vehicles that can travel on the streets.
“It’s always on the cusp of happening, but it’s taking longer than people think, Brian, because of regulation, the cost of vehicles that do the job well, and enough self-driving cars in any city that it takes 10 minutes or less to get to your door when you order them,” Michael said.
“And these things are expensive. The whole car, with all the rotating stuff you see on top of the car, costs about $300,000. That’s not going to replace the driver financially anytime soon.”
Uber Technologies Inc., which trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol UBER, was up 1.35% at the close, trading at $74.30 per share at the time of writing.
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