Londoners can hire self-driving taxis for the first time after Uber added rides in Wayve’s autonomous vehicles to its app on 3 September, with 15 cars licensed so far and a human safety driver in the front seat of each.
The capital has more than 100,000 private hire vehicles, roughly the same number as the Uber customers who have registered to take autonomous rides, so the chances of being matched with a robotaxi on request are slim.
Transport for London in August licensed Uber and Wayve’s modified Ford Mustang cars as private hire vehicles. The licence conditions still require a safety driver to supervise each journey.
Regulatory approval for vehicles to operate fully autonomously without a safety driver has to be granted under a separate government process run by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency, and is now seen as unlikely this year. The Department for Transport opened applications in May for operators to run taxi and bus-style self-driving services under its pilot scheme.
The launch puts Uber ahead of rivals in bringing driverless taxis to London, seen as a crucial market for a wider European rollout. Google-owned Waymo, which has confirmed plans for a London service, and the Chinese company Baidu are both testing their robotaxis in the capital.
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