Driverless Future Gains Momentum With Global Robotaxi Deployments

The global push to put autonomous taxis on public roads is accelerating as ride-hailing companies and technology firms advance from pilot programs toward limited commercial rollouts in cities across China, the United States, Europe and the Middle East.

WeRide and Uber launched Level 4 fully driverless robotaxi operations in Abu Dhabi in November and began offering robotaxi passenger rides on Uber's platform in Dubai the following month. Amazon's Zoox started offering free rides to select early users in parts of San Francisco in November after launching its autonomous ride-hailing service on the Las Vegas Strip in September. Alphabet's Waymo now operates services in Phoenix, San Francisco, and Los Angeles -- the latter two having launched in June and November 2024 respectively.

Baidu's Apollo Go has been operating without safety drivers in Chongqing and Wuhan since securing permits in August 2022 and has since expanded to Shenzhen and Beijing. Pony.ai launched paid robotaxi services in Guangzhou in February and Shanghai in August. Tesla began a limited paid robotaxi rollout in Austin, Texas in June using Model Y SUVs, though the vehicles still require a safety monitor onboard. The expansion will continue in 2026: Waymo plans to launch an autonomous ride-hailing service in London, and Momenta is preparing a luxury robotaxi service in Abu Dhabi through a partnership with Mercedes-Benz and UAE taxi operator Lumo.

Why are we ...

[PPH]

... conflating driverless technology with taxis? I understand Uber/Lyfts needs to get the money grubbing cabdrivers off their books. But I'll be damned if I'm putting my autonomous Bentley into a pool that some hobo can rent and piss himself in the back seat.

Re:

[backslashdot]

Why do people assume people are going to shit and piss in the car? Did they think the movie Taxi Driver was a documentary? Thousands of Waymo has been operating in hobo heaven San Francisco for years now and that's not been an issue. Every Waymo I've ordered has been clean and I don't know anyone who encountered a dirty one. So if it does happen, it's very rare and probably can be spray hosed off and washed and then whoever did it can be banned from the network or prosecuted (there are cameras). I'm sure th

Re:

[PPH]

Thousands of Waymo has been operating in hobo heaven San Francisco for years now and that's not been an issue.

For now. Price keeps the bums out of the cabs. But once they become commonplace, they will be subsidized for the "needy".

and then whoever did it can be banned from the network

Not in Left Coast states. We can't even ban fentanyl smokers from busses. Because our state health department says second hand fent smoke is harmless. Because to do otherwise would cause harm among the "needy" (I need my fent).

Re: Why are we ...

[Mr. Dollar Ton]

Look at it from the bright side - when the "AI" bubble collapses and takes your lifetime earnings with it, you may at least get a free roboride to the bioreactor.

Because taxi drivers are expensive

[Firethorn]

It's because taxi drivers are basically the biggest expense line in a taxi. Even truck drivers are up there. Get rid of the driver, and one can either profit much more from the ride or drop the price some and get a lot more customers.
But before that you need a self driving car.

Good news on that front though - a self driving car might be worth like $5k extra to a personal car buyer (a person who cannot legally drive might value it more), but for a taxi company? $30k/year would still save them oodles of mo

You will own nothing and like it

[rsilvergun]

Basically you're not going to be allowed to own things anymore. Unless you are one of the handful of technocrats who runs the world, which is going to be about 3,000 people and they're immediate family, then you won't even be given the option to own a vehicle.

This is assuming we even have a functioning economy in 20 or 30 years. It's pretty obvious the 1% are sick and tired of capitalism and consumers and being dependent on us filthy filthy consumers.

If you aren't already driving a Bentley then you'

Re:

[backslashdot]

You've never been to Saudi Arabia have you? Thanks to all that free money that comes from oil, most people in Saudia Arabia have upper middle class wealth. You don't have to believe me look at it on satellite view with Google Maps .. the houses don't look like slums. Also, you can confirm with any number of tours on YouTube of Saudi Arabia that the economy seems bustling. Note: People are severely oppressed in terms of freedom, human rights, justice, and religious practice but economically the general publi

Re:

[timeOday]

I also don't think renting out privately-owned cars will take off anytime soon. For now, the self-driving cars that actually work require expensive commercial-grade sensor packages (unlike camera-only Tesla FSD) and secondly they still need a human overseer for every N cars out on the road, which implies you have a pool of trained and available people on staff.

Re:

[divide overflow]

But I'll be damned if I'm putting my autonomous Bentley into a pool that some hobo can rent and piss himself in the back seat.

You can't even enter a Waymo without using a valid credit card from which a significant fee will be extracted as the cost of your indiscretions.

and who is paying for the cars / upkeep / fuel?

[Joe_Dragon]

and who is paying for the cars / upkeep / fuel?

Re:

[Randseed]

why I want a taxi?

It might be useful after you binge drink a liter of vodka.

Re:

[backslashdot]

Try parking in the city and get back to me.

Location location location

[Archfeld]

They of course pick Abu Dhabi. Just in case they run over someone, it will likely be a dirt poor peasant that won't be missed...

Re:

[backslashdot]

Waymo has been operating in San Francisco for years where for it to be ignored it would have had to have run over someone wealthy.

Re:

[Jeremi]

They of course pick Abu Dhabi. Just in case they run over someone, it will likely be a dirt poor peasant that won't be missed...

That's likely a factor. Not a whole lot of liability lawsuits to worry about there, I imagine.

Other factors include:

1. A government that is happy to throw money at anything that helps them look modern and cool
2. Wide, empty, logically-laid-out streets that are easy to drive on (if self-driving were a video game, Abu Dhabi would be the tutorial level [youtube.com])
3. Minimal weather/visibility concerns

Nobody wants this shit

[paul_engr]

Driverless cars are dumb as fuck

Any City A to City B "Robotaxis"?

[ffkom]

I for one do not need any "Robotaxi" to roam around the city where I live - my bicycle is good enough for that. On the more seldom occasions where I would need to drive to another city, a "Robotaxi" might be useful - but AFAIK not a single "Robotaxi"-deployment as of today offers true wide area rides. Or did I miss something?