Witness how Lyft is advancing the integration of autonomous cars and vehicles into the beautiful destination that’s Hamburg in Germany, particularly the future-ready mobility ecosystem of this amazing city.
“This memorandum is a milestone – not only for Hamburg, but for Germany as a whole,” Thomas Zimmermann, the CEO of Freenow by Lyft, told Ridesharing Forum. “Together with the city, we are creating a clear framework for the first time to move autonomous taxis from testing into real-world operations. Freenow by Lyft contributes technological, operational, and regulatory expertise. Our goal is to combine innovation with responsibility and to ensure that the local taxi industry actively participates in this deployment.”
Yes, a Memorandum of Understanding was recently signed, marking the central European country’s first-ever collaboration with a private company to unfurl a strategic framework for introducing Level 4 AVs into the cab sector and to lay down clear guidelines on integrating autonomous vehicles into the futuristic mobility ecosystem of the German city.
Freenow by Lyft is, of course, playing a crucial role. It is a leading mobility-as-a-service app – MaaS? – in Europe that the ridesharing app acquired recently. Hamburg is the home of this platform, but it works in over a hundred and one cities across various sets of countries in Europe, offering taxis, private vehicles for hire, eScooters, eMopeds, eBikes, carsharing, and so much more.
After its launch, Hamburg is to operate as an integrated, hybrid mobility market, wherein traditional public transport and cabs, including AVs, each perform a crucial and interconnected role.
Both the private and public sectors believe drivers remain key and central to the city’s mobility system, and even though they are AVs, they are bound to strengthen the overall network and create newest job opportunities in maintenance, operations, and fleet management.
“With the electrification of the taxi fleet, we laid the foundation for the long-term viability of the industry. With this memorandum on autonomous driving, we are now taking the next logical step,” noted Anjes Tjarks, the transport and mobility transition senator. “Autonomous taxis can make an important contribution to public transport connectivity, particularly during off-peak hours and in underserved areas. Hamburg is pursuing a forward-looking strategy for autonomous mobility and for modern on-demand and taxi services that are integrated into the urban transport system.”
The Ridesharing Forum team is just as excited as you are. This team-up will pilot-test in Altona-West, Hamburg North, and Bergedorf. However, this testing stage will start in areas where Freenow by Lyft has received the approval from Hamburg’s Authority for Transport and Mobility Transition to launch a first- and last-mile on-demand service to enhance the access to public transport hubs. Happy weekend from Ridesharing Forum website!