The San Francisco Bay Area will soon see Lyft customers riding in self-driving cars.
Lyft is partnering with autonomous vehicle start-up Drive.ai to introduce a limited pilot of driverless rides for select passengers. Drive.ai will provide the vehicles and the software stack that powers autonomy, while Lyft will make the service available to its riders through the Lyft platform.
Initially, only a small number of autonomous vehicles will be deployed as part of the pilot, and participation will be voluntary — riders will be able to choose whether to take an autonomous trip. As this program is a trial designed to evaluate technology and rider response, trips in the pilot phase will be offered at no charge.
Although the cars will operate autonomously, each vehicle will include a trained safety operator in the front seat to intervene if a situation requires human control. This approach allows Drive.ai to collect real-world data and refine its software while maintaining a safety presence during early operations.
“We want to make sure the experience feels as much like an autonomous vehicle experience as possible,” said Carol Reiley, co-founder and president of Drive.ai.
The pilot serves dual purposes: Drive.ai will use real-world rides to test and improve its autonomous driving systems, and Lyft will assess customer interest and comfort with on-demand autonomous travel.