Sure enough, what was supposed to happen has arrived. Just as Tesla’s driverless taxi Cybercab is preparing for rapid expansion, ride-hailing app Uber is joining forces with driver unions to lobby regulators to slow the rollout of driverless taxis.
They want a significant share of orders on ride-hailing platforms to be completed by human drivers. For example, a pilot proposal in New Jersey requires that the share of human drivers remain no lower than 85% within three years.
The reason behind this is that Waymo, Google’s driverless car unit, among others, has already begun squeezing the income of ride-hailing drivers and the market share of platforms in many parts of the United States. Yet Uber itself has made very little progress in autonomous driving; it even once bundled the business for sale and gave it up.
They want a significant share of orders on ride-hailing platforms to be completed by human drivers. For example, a pilot proposal in New Jersey requires that the share of human drivers remain no lower than 85% within three years.
The reason behind this is that Waymo, Google’s driverless car unit, among others, has already begun squeezing the income of ride-hailing drivers and the market share of platforms in many parts of the United States. Yet Uber itself has made very little progress in autonomous driving; it even once bundled the business for sale and gave it up.
