Rideshare company into driverless
SAN FRANCISCO: Rideshare company Lyft plans to develop its own autonomous driving technology and open a laboratory in the Silicon Valley city of Palo Alto to help build the hardware and software.
Lyft’s plan to build inhouse selfdriving technology is a pivot from what has been a strategy of primarily focusing on building partnerships with car manufacturers, such as General Motors and Jaguar Land Rover, and selfdriving car startups like nuTonomy.
Its main competitor, ridehailing giant Uber, began testing selfdriving cars last year.
Lyft executives say the firm remains committed to its partnerships while working on its own selfdriving technology.
‘‘I don’t think this is a zerosum game,’’ said Taggert Matthisen, Lyft’s senior director of product. ‘‘It is so early in this industry right now.’’
Lyft’s first major step in building its own technology will be the upcoming laboratory in Palo Alto, dubbed Level 5. Lyft says it will employ several hundred people by the end of 2018. The lab is expected to open ‘‘in a few weeks,’’ the company said.
For both Uber and Lyft, selfdriving cars are a frontier crucial to their success. The ridehailing rivals have lost enormous amounts of money every year due to subsidising discounts for riders and bonuses for drivers.
Lyft in 2016 lost $US600 million despite a 250% jump in revenue.
They hope to cut losses by replacing human drivers with autonomous vehicles, though Lyft is initially talking about a hybrid system in which human drivers take over in situations deemed too difficult for machines. — TCA