What does the future hold for the world this 2026? It has just gone through a dramatic Olympics last year. 2026… the Year of the Horse and Uber’s robotaxis to be seen in London? Here’s the scoop.
That’s official
The world-famous classic black cabs in London will be joined on the road by robotaxis by early next year in time when Uber finishes its linking up with Wayve Technologies, an artificial intelligence company in the western European country. This also signals Uber’s very first pilot scheme for robotaxis.
Regarding robotaxis, Wayve Technologies’ sister in terms of how its name sounds, Waymo, is leading the pack, followed by Tesla, which is in charge of bringing autonomous taxis across various areas in the United States.
This is historic since Uber has confirmed London will be its first foray into robotaxis. Robotaxis are autonomous vehicles that need minimal to no human intervention to ply the road.
However, Uber’s robotaxis for the London market will start with human driver at the wheel to test the cars’ safety. Once this hurdle is passed, it is then that these robotaxis will officially hit the road.
Support from authorities
Interestingly – since authorities are often seen strict against ridesharing – they are excited to see this happening.
“By having faster reaction times than humans, and by being trained on large numbers of driving scenarios, including learning from real-world incidents, self-driving vehicles can help reduce deaths and injuries,” the country’s government said in a press release discussing the upcoming legislation, the Automated Vehicles Act.
Yes, of course the legislation has to be passed and enacted first. The United Kingdom Department of Transport also emphasized how the industry could create around 38,000 jobs and add $56 billion to the local economy by 2035.
“The future of transport is arriving,” said the secretary of transport, Heidi Alexander. “Self-driving cars could bring jobs, investment, and the opportunity for the U.K., to be among the world leaders in new technology.”
What are the benefits of robotaxis? Plenty. Robotaxis can address the demand for mobility in major towns and thus reduce traffic congestion. It also means that your lane capacity can increase, so more vehicles can travel per lane at a given time. The pooled transport these taxis offer also means fewer cars on the road and greater parking space availability.
However, there are detractors
But, there are those who don’t believe this initiative will succeed. The general secretary of the Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association, Steve McNamara, told Ridesharing Forum that this project is “fantasy.”
“We’re probably going to have flying taxis before we have autonomous ones in London,” McNamara stated, saying that the fact these robotaxis are struggling in San Francisco, the more they won’t have a chance to exist in London.
“Come back to me in 2040,” he said.
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