Lyft Inc (NASDAQ: LYFT) has said that it will start running self-driving cars in its rideshare network by the end of this year. It’s going to make this happen via a partnership with Argo AI and, of course, Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F). The three companies announced that they’d be placing autonomous ride-hailing cars on the streets of Miami later in 2021 and will have them on Austin roadways by 2022 as well. Lyft’s Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Logan Green, said that this collaboration between these three companies is the first time something like this has ever been done in the autonomous vehicle space. He further stated that each company brings a wealth of capability, knowledge, and scale in all their areas of expertise, which is required if you want to make self-driving ride-hailing a reality.
The agreement made calls for Ford and Argo AI to deploy autonomous vehicles with safety drivers on Lyft. People that use Lyft in the operational locations will have access to Ford autonomous cars if available. The companies will use the initial deployments to see all the operational issues and complications as they work on closing an agreement that’ll see over 1000 self-driving cars on Lyft’s ride-sharing network in the next half-decade or so.
Argo AI’s Chief Executive Officer and founder, Bryan Salesky, said that the collaboration between these companies is unique because they have a shared vision they want to execute, which entails improving the affordability, access to, and transportation safety in the US cities. Besides the link that Lyft’s network provides to the consumer, the companies can now come together to see where self-driving car services can benefit the communities most. They’ll also now be able to deploy such technologies safely.
Argo is known to design self-driving technologies, and the company has been testing such technologies in Austin, Miami, and Washington. However, its headquarters are located in Pittsburgh. A spokesperson from Lyft told Modern Shipper that the drivers would come from Argo and the cars will come from Ford.
