This week, Lyft riders in Nashville, Tennessee, who request a ride on the app might get matched with a new driver: a robot.
\n\nA new partnership between the ride-hail company and Waymo, the self-driving-vehicle developer, will integrate self-driving rides into Lyft’s platform. (Riders can also request a driverless ride through Waymo’s own app; service there started in April.)
\n\nThe rollout marks a new milestone for Lyft, which has worked with other, smaller self-driving vehicle companies in the US, but never with a partner as big as Waymo, which operates in 14 US metros. Lyft executives also see the partnership as a continuation of a conversation the ride-hail company has been having for a few years now with its hundreds of thousands of US drivers.
\n\nLyft, like its competitor Uber, insists that its platform will be a “hybrid network” for a long while yet, as human drivers work alongside robot ones. But it’s hard to imagine the transition won’t upend life for some of the millions of professional drivers who work in the US today.
\n\n“We've got to make sure we're honest, we're open. We have conversations with drivers and bring them into the journey with proactive communication,” says Jeremy Bird…
Original source: https://www.wired.com/