In the future, Uber plans to start charging for self-driving rides as it begins to phase out human drivers, but Kalanick says the price will still be significantly lower than a regular private vehicle. “Trips will be free for the time being, rather than the standard local rate of $1.30 [£0.98] per mile”.
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“The cars in Pittsburgh comply with vehicle safety and equipment laws and we are committed to testing this technology safely”, an Uber spokesperson said in an email.
Kalanick would not speculate on when Uber might be ready to dispense with the human driver, saying that full automation can only be used now in limited places with little traffic. That’s especially noteworthy considering that Uber is moving at a faster pace than Google, which is widely regarded as the leader in self-driving auto efforts. By using human backup drivers, Uber basically is going to test the technology and take people along for the ride, he said.
Uber said the program would begin with the cars carrying company “co-pilots”, engineers and safety personnel, after testing the cars in the western Pennsylvania city without passengers for months.
“We will be carefully reviewing that based on our commitment to safeguarding the travelling public”, he told AFP.
Kalanick called Levandowski one of the world’s “leading autonomous engineers”, noting that his first invention, a self-driving motorcycle called Ghostrider, is now in the Smithsonian.
“This will involve Uber adding its own self-developed autonomous driving systems to the Volvo base vehicle”. The $300 million alliance between Uber and Volvo means that Uber will install driverless control systems into purchased Volvos, and Volvo will use the “same vehicle for its own autonomous driving project”, among other things.
“It appears 2016 will go down in history as the year of the autonomous vehicle partnership”, said Karl Brauer, senior analyst for Kelley Blue Book, in a statement. Otto co-founder Anthony Levandowski will lead Uber’s combined self-driving initiatives, Kalanick says. Earlier this week, Ford announced plans for an autonomous ride-hail fleet that it plans to put on the road by 2021.
Speaking of the tech center, Mr. Marakby said: “It’s accomplished in 18 months what many companies can’t accomplish in many years”. Uber, he said, plans to offer autonomous vehicles in other cities, but he would not elaborate on plans to expand beyond Pittsburgh. “We can only rely on technology so much or it’s going to bite us”.
The partnership between Uber and Volvo will have it buying XC90 SUV’s from the vehicle maker.
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For now, Uber’s test cars travel with safety driver. “Bridges are really hard”, Krikorian says.
