Hot on the heels of their partnership announcement, Uber and Volkswagen will soon be launching shared autonomous rides, the companies said Wednesday. The initiative is slated to kick off in Los Angeles in 2026.
Riders will be able to hail a fully electric, self-driving ride aboard the ID Buzz AD minivan. In April, the companies said they’ll be deploying thousands of the minivans in “multiple” US cities over the next decade. Testing is slated to begin later this year, before the commercial launch in LA in 2026. Human operators will be on board the vehicles in the initial phase to ensure everything’s running smoothly.
“Autonomous technology will drive a safer and more affordable future for everyone, and we can’t wait to expand access to it around the world,” Uber said in a release.
Currently, passengers in certain cities can summon autonomous vehicles through platforms like Uber and Waymo, but those rides aren’t shared. Alphabet-owned Waymo operates fully autonomous rides for the general public in Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Austin, Texas, with a launch slated for Atlanta later this year. Depending on the city, you can either hail a Waymo through the company’s Waymo One app or via the Uber app. Uber has teamed up with more than a dozen other autonomous vehicle companies, including May Mobility and Nuro.
Shared rides could also address concerns about self-driving cars adding to traffic congestion. Critics have pointed to the “empty miles” that come with autonomous vehicles roaming around between pickups. If multiple people hop in the same car, it’s more likely that there’ll be someone on board.
Shared autonomous rides are also a way for passengers to save money. In my experience, the cost of a Waymo in San Francisco is often slightly higher than a human-driven ride through Uber and Lyft. In cities where Uber offers rides aboard Waymo’s self-driving vehicles, it says the price is comparable to a standard, non-AV ride. Shared autonomous rides take things a step further by giving you a discount — with the cost being shared space with strangers.