Taxi Driver Online

All a big con. Are they going to bin off billions of dollars of investment if punters say no? Of course not. This is just spin so they can big up these things to the idiots in the DfT and TfL.

Uber asks customers if they want driverless cabs

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3ey9vq2q54o



Uber is asking customers in London if they want to use driverless minicabs as it prepares to launch the vehicles for the first time in the UK.

The taxi-hailing app is working with British firm Wayve to roll out the first self-driving taxis, with Wayve declaring the technology as tested and "ready to go". They could be launched this summer, and will initially have a human driver sat behind the wheel.

Wayve is seeking formal permission from the Department for Transport (DfT), the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency and Transport for London to operate these taxis.

The DfT has announced a pilot scheme for driverless minicabs and said firms taking part would be held to strict safety standards.

The hands of a driver can be seen hovering near a steering wheel as a car is in motion, indicating that a human driver is present but not in control.

Following the introduction of the Autonomous Vehicles Act 2024, the government opened an application process for operators in May.

The DfT said the pilot scheme would gather real-world evidence on how self-driving vehicles operate on everyday roads, from navigating busy urban streets to interacting with traffic and carrying passengers safely.

Wayve said it had been trialling the vehicles in London since 2018.

Cars with Wayve systems are fitted with six cameras, a radar and an AI-powered computer in the boot which control their responses.

Kaity Fischer, who leads Wayve's robotaxi business, said: "We're ready to go, and can't wait to get the public into our vehicles to experience Wayve technology first hand."

Fischer described London's roads as the "ultimate testing ground for autonomous technology".

Making a comparison with San Francisco - a common location for rolling out robotaxis – she said London had 20 times more roadworks and 10 times more vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians and cyclists.

Combining that with London's "2,000-year-old streets", which are not in a grid layout and have "potholes and cobblestone paths", creates an "incredible proving ground", she added.

Once launched, a human driver will initially sit behind the wheel ready to take control during journeys while the technology is demonstrated to be safe.

London will be the first city in the world to use Wayve's technology for commercial journeys, under the firm's plans.

The company then hopes to expand to more than 10 cities globally in partnership with Uber, including Tokyo, later this year.

On Monday, Uber launched a "list of interest" on its app, meaning those who join it to be matched up with a driverless ride if they request a ride - which will cost the same as a conventional ride.

Annie Duvnjak, who is in charge of autonomous operations at Uber, said it planned to launch with a "small fleet" of robotaxis in London, before "scaling up over time".

Uber already offers self-driving journeys in the US cities of Austin in Texas and Atlanta in Georgia.

It is working with a number of other firms to launch driverless taxis and some of its drivers in London have held small-scale protests against their use.

Waymo – a subsidiary of Google-owner Alphabet – has also been testing its self-driving minicabs in London, ahead of launching commercial services.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said the technology had "the potential to transform how people travel" by "reducing road danger while driving growth and creating high-skilled jobs across the UK".

She added: "Wayve is a British success story and this partnership with Uber is a welcome vote of confidence in their technology."

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IDFIMH

You better believe it.

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IDFIMH

ROBOTAXI TO THE JOB CENTRE? Union issues stern warning on jobs impact

https://www.punchline-gloucester.com/ar ... less-taxis

A stark warning on the dangers of self-driving transport has been issued at the latest annual GMB congress in Blackpool, with a vision of 300,000 jobs being lost by the arrival of driverless taxis.

The union's annual event has agreed to call on the government to introduce laws to protect taxi and private hire drivers from job losses and reductions in earnings caused by the rollout of the new tech.

Ali Haydor, Private Hire Driver and GMB Congress Delegate told the Congress: "We hear a lot from those on the right of politics about people not working and relying on benefits, but replacing human workers will potentially push thousands into unemployment and poverty.

"The gig economy firms present driverless taxis as progress - they tell us this technology will increase efficiency, reduce costs and benefit society, but progress for whom? Technology will continue to develop, but workers should not be expected to carry all the risks while companies take all the rewards."

The GMB has consequently drawn up a list of key demands and concerns:

● Check the road ahead: for the impact on jobs: private hire delegates warned that widespread adoption of robotaxis could wipe out up to 300,000 driver livelihoods.

● Wear a belt: the union is demanding legal safety nets to stop autonomous vehicles from aggressively driving down the earnings of human operators.

● Ease off the throttle: the union argues that gig-economy workers and traditional drivers should not have to shoulder the financial brunt of rapid technological experimentation.

Additionally, the GMB is lobbying for a statutory requirement that compels companies to legally consult workers before replacing or transferring human tasks to automation.

Here in Gloucestershire, all eyes in the transport sector are on London's commercial rollout of this change, with British Al firm Wayve and the ride-hailing giant Uber (both of which officially recognise the GMB Union) currently preparing a passenger launch, Uber having asked London app users if they want to opt into the trials.

Alphabet-owned Waymo is meanwhile actively mapping London streets using electric SUVs, and, tech giant Baidu is partnering with Uber and Lyft to deploy fleets.

For initial commercial trials, a human driver will remain behind the wheel to take control if necessary, though tech companies expect to phase humans out entirely as soon as systems are proved to be safe.

The rollout, however, throws government strategy on AI into a potential prang with the goals of Labour-supporting unions, with Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander having backed the fast-tracked rollout despite this week's stern warnings from the GMB.

Existing legislation heavily promotes the technology via the Automated Vehicles Act, and it is predicted that the sector will inject £42bn into the UK economy, thereby creating 38,000 highly skilled engineering and tech jobs by 2035.

However, GMB's remains agnostic on whether these new tech jobs help the hundreds of thousands of local drivers facing a potential drive to the job centre.

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IDFIMH