Lyft to test autonomous cars in San Francisco

BI Intelligence

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Lyft is partnering with self-driving car startup Drive.ai and will soon offer rides in semi-autonomous vehicles to passengers in the San Francisco Bay area, according to Recode.

The ride-hailing company, like its competitors, is looking to autonomous-car technology to greatly reduce its operational costs and has created an open platform that allows partners to deploy self-driving vehicles using its network.

The pilot program will work much like Uber’s autonomous-car trials in Pittsburgh and Phoenix. Passengers will be asked if they want to participate in the program, and if they choose to take part, their trip in the semi-autonomous vehicle will be free. The car drives itself for some portions of the trip, but a driver will still be there to monitor the semi-autonomous system and take over when the car has issues or if it goes to an area where it can’t drive itself.

Pursuing semi-autonomous systems is a means to full autonomy for companies like Lyft, rather than an end in itself as can be for automakers. Here's why that's the case:

• Lyft doesn’t get much benefit out of a semi-autonomous car. Though Lyft executives have said they see drivers as a part of the company’s future, the true promise of fully autonomous vehicles for ride-hailing companies is that they will allow vehicles to remain in service almost 24 hours a day, removing the cost of employing a driver or splitting revenue from car-sharing. But with a semi-autonomous vehicle, the driver is still there, and still needs to be paid, so Lyft uses a more expensive vehicle but with the same operating costs.
• And the way they're being deployed has limited their scope. Lyft, Uber, and others' semi-autonomous trials have all been conducted in premapped areas, so the cars aren't relying solely  sensor input (similarly, GM limits its Super Cruise system to premapped highways). This means that the semi-autonomous cars can only go to certain places, limiting their utility.

But Lyft and Drive.ai are gaining valuable data on their self-driving systems from these tests. The companies can see how driving programs react to different situations, while also recording sensor input to allow the cars to train in virtual simulations. Lyft’s semi-autonomous tests, like Uber’s, are stepping stones on the path to full autonomy. Where Lyft differs from its chief competitor, though, is in its multiple partnerships — Drive.ai brings it up to four total — a different approach from Uber’s go-it-alone strategy. 

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• Explains the current state of technology, regulation, and consumer perception.
• Analyzes how the development of autonomous cars will impact employment and the economy.

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