A fleet of 30 autonomous vehicles have joined the Lyft network in Las Vegas under a new agreement with automotive technology company Aptiv.
The vehicles will operate on Aptiv’s autonomous driving platform and will be made available to the public in partnership with the ride-sharing provider.
Passengers will have the option of requesting a self-driving vehicle via Lyft’s ride-hailing app when travelling to and from high-demand locations.
All autonomous vehicles will be operated by a safety driver in case human control is required.
“With Aptiv’s autonomous driving technology deployed throughout Las Vegas and broadly accessible through the Lyft app, a wide range of consumers will be able to share the experience of autonomous vehicles in a complex urban environment,” commented Kevin Clark, Aptiv president and chief executive officer. “More importantly, the resulting knowledge and data will allow us to further refine our autonomous driving capabilities and strengthen our portfolio of industry-leading active safety solutions.”
The combination of Aptiv’s autonomous driving technology and Lyft’s ride-hailing app builds on a successful partnership that was launched in Las Vegas during CES 2018.
That initial pilot provided more than 400 self-driving rides to the public and earned an average customer rating of 4.99 out of five stars, Aptiv said.
If the vehicles are largely unchanged from those seen at CES, passengers can expect a fleet of white BMW 5 Series vehicles with bright orange wheels, CNET reports.
Inside the car, the infotainment screen has been altered to give an idea of what the vehicle’s sensors “see” on the road ahead, while a tablet in the back seat allows passengers to see how much of the route is left to travel.
The autonomous cars are available now for booking by Las Vegas residents and tourists.
Tags: Driverless cars, Connected Consumer, connectivity, autonomous vehicles, intelligent transport, ITS, intelligent transport systems, Las Vegas
