Self-Driving Taxis: the Cabs of the Future

“Taxi!”

For anyone that’s had to utter that often ignored word, or failed to flag down taxi after taxi, it’s no wonder that the new self-driving taxis in Singapore and Philadelphia are making big news.

Self-Driving Taxis in Singapore from nuTonomy
Singapore company nuTonomy launched its new self-driving taxi service just days before US company Uber was able to get their cars on the road. The six, shiny new nuTonomy cars are located in “one-north,” a small business district.

Since this is a trial period, nuTonomy is equipping the cars, Renault Zoe and Mitsubishi i-MiEV, with a backup human driver, in addition to a computer engineer. This way, the company can be prepared for any mishaps along the way.

The Singapore government has outlined a series of milestones for the nuTonomy test to achieve before it will be allowed to expand. Still, nuTonomy already has its eye on the surrounding area. It’s only a matter of time.

Uber Launches Self-Driving Taxis in Philadelphia
On the other side of the world, Uber is the first stateside company to launch self-driving taxis, currently with “safety drivers.” These four Ford Fusions are equipped with sensors, cameras, and radar to help the cars maneuver, brake, steer, and accelerate. Volvo XC90s should be making an appearance soon as well, with a recent deal between Volvo and Uber paving the way for the new addition.

Why self-driving taxis? Uber co-founder and CEO Travis Kalanick and Otto founder Anthony Levandowski made the following announcement on the company website:

“But we know that self-driving Ubers have enormous potential to further our mission and improve society: reducing the number of traffic accidents, which today kill 1.3 million people a year; freeing up the 20 percent of space in cities currently used to park the world’s billion plus cars; and cutting congestion, which wastes trillions of hours every year.”

Those are some really big numbers. Are self-driving cars the wave of the future? According to nuTonomy and Uber, the answer is “Yes!” With big players including Tesla Motors, Google, General Motors, and then some each hopping onboard, many believe the time is now to embrace this new technology.

In fact, Ford plans to have self-driving cars available for consumers out and available by 2021. The way we travel will be forever changed.

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