The Robotaxi Expansion Continues
Almost daily now comes news of new cities and regions where companies like Waymo and Cruise are starting to operate or test driverless robotaxis. The last few days, Cruise announced Nashville and Atlanta as the next cities, after Miami, Houston and Dallas, where robotaxis will be made available to the public in a short time. Testing has already begun.
Waymo announced after Los Angeles likewise Austin, there the entrance is to be possible from the outset for the public.
What is the current state of play? The table below lists the three most advanced companies that are either already public or limited public access, or where testing is underway with the clear goal of offering a public robotaxi service in the near future. ‘Test’ here also means that employees of the companies are invited to use these vehicles themselves for their own trips.
CompanyCity / RegionStatusWaymoSan FranciscoPublic*PhönixPublicLos AngelesPublic*AustinPublic*CruiseSan FranciscoPublic*PhönixPublic*AustinPublic*NashvilleTestLos AngelesTestDallasTestHoustonTestAtlantaTestMiamiTestZooxLas VegasTestNote: * means for a limited public (an access code for the app is required).
Two years ago, I already gave an estimate of how quickly the rollout of robotaxi fleets in the USA would take. And according to this, we see the rollout progressing inexorably.
Time frameNumber of robotaxi fleets in cities / regions2021up t 3 in the US20225 to 10 in the US202525 to 50 in the US2023-2025first fleet in Europe
A robotaxi expansion depends not only on technical maturity, but also on legal frameworks. Waymo is testing in New York City, for example, but local authorities there have been quite hostile to the idea of operating driverless robotaxis.
Le dernier titulaire d’un permis de conduire est déjà né
L’automobile telle qu’on la connaît va disparaître. L’intelligence artificielle, la voiture électrique, la voiture autonome et l’économie du partage sont en voie de révolutionner l’industrie automobile au cours de la prochaine décennie. Cette révolution technico-économique affectera tous les domaines, pas seulement celui de l’automobile. Le dernier titulaire d’un permis de conduire est déjà né révèle les technologies perturbatrices qui prennent forme actuellement et propose une chronologie du moment où elles s’imposeront. L’auteur, chercheur en technologie, communique sa vision de l’industrie automobile de demain et l’impact sur les emplois notamment dans l’industrie automobile et pétrolière, l’environnement, les sciences, l’urbanisme, les hôpitaux, les services policiers et la sécurité, la politique, les lois, l’hôtellerie et la restauration, l’immobilier, l’économie mondiale et la société en général. Des dizaines de milliers d’emplois seront supprimés définitivement dans plusieurs domaines, mais la nouvelle économie en produira deux fois plus selon les experts. Découvrez comment ces bouleversements dans le monde des transports, notamment les robotaxis, affecteront vos vies, votre budget et comment vous y préparer, et pourquoi c’est une bonne chose.
Although nearly 40 companies in California alone are currently licensed to test autonomous cars on public roads, only Waymo, Cruise and Zoox appear to be ready to either already operate driverless vehicles on the roads as a fleet of robotaxis or could do so in the near future. Everyone else seems to be years away.
This article was also published in German.
