Lyft has just announced plans to partner with three companies in the autonomous vehicle (AV) sector and gradually introduce their technology into its network starting in 2025. The three companies are Mobileye, May Mobility and Nexar.
Mobileye is a pioneer of self-driving technology and has also developed advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). Lyft’s partnership with Mobileye will allow vehicles already equipped with Mobileye’s tech to start transporting passengers to their destinations, integrating them into the Lyft network seamlessly. The technology will be available to both small and large fleets on Lyft.
Additionally, Lyft and May Mobility, another AV company, are teaming up to bring AVs to Atlanta next year. May Mobility’s technology helps these cars drive independently and will serve as a proof of concept before Lyft brings them to other locations. Riders in Atlanta can just use the app for a chance to match with Lyft’s autonomous Toyota Sienna minivans in the city.
Because AV technology is still far from mature, Lyft is working with Nexar, the world’s first vehicle-to-vehicle network provider, to gather anonymized fleet and marketplace data to improve autonomous driving technology. Nexar’s smart dashcams not only keep drivers safe but they help fleet operators monitor their drivers. Nexar has plenty of video footage, up to hundreds of millions of hours. Combining this data and Lyft’s can help improve self-driving cars. Besides optimizing its AV’s performance, Lyft wants to “jointly contribute to a more complete data set for autonomous research and development.”
This announcement aligns with Lyft’s 2022 statement saying that it intended to incorporate more self-driving cars into its services. The same year, Lyft, cooperating with Motional, introduced AVs to Los Angeles. However, Motional remarked in May that its AVs won’t deploy on a large scale just yet.
Source: www.engadget.com