Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
Uber announced Friday that, starting early next year, it will start providing autonomous ride-hailing to Austin and Atlanta as its partnership with Waymo is expanded.
The rides will be in Waymo‘s fully electric I-PACE model from the premium carmaker Jaguar and will be exclusively available through the Uber App.
Although the California-based AV startup does not reveal the number of vehicles it has in its fleet, Uber said in a statement that Waymo’s fleet of Jaguar vehicles “will grow to hundreds over time”.
Uber explained that riders who request an UberX, Uber Green, Uber Comfort, or Uber Comfort Electric “may be matched with a Waymo for qualifying trips”.
While Uber will be responsible for fleet management services including “vehicle cleaning, repair, and other general depot operations”, Waymo will focus on the testing and operation of the Waymo Driver, including “roadside assistance and certain rider support functions”.
In early April, Waymo partnered with Uber Eats to deliver food across neighborhoods in Phoenix, including Chandler, Mesa, and Tempe.
This option, which does not incur any additional fees for customers, can be cheaper than the standard delivery person option, according to the companies.
Waymo has already facilitated tens of thousands of trips on Uber using its autonomous driving technology. Besides Phoenix, Waymo’s ride-hailing service is available in parts of Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
