Hail a ride in a driverless Uber

Over a year ago Uber set out on a mission to bring self-driving Uber vehicles to the public. Just this week, the company announced that the concept is now a reality.

The company has launched Self-Driving Uber in Pittsburgh, where it set up an advanced technology facility about a year and a half ago to work on bringing the tech to life.

“If a Self-Driving Uber is available, we’ll send it along with a safety driver up front to make sure the ride goes smoothly. Otherwise it’s uberX as usual,” said Anthony Levandowski, Founder, Otto and VP, Self-Driving Technology, Uber, in a blog post.

The company considers the pilot is a big step forward since real-world testing is necessary to the success.

The Self-Driving Ubers will still have a safety driver in the front seat since they require human intervention in many conditions, such as bad weather. Once human intervention is no longer necessary, Uber says ridesharing will become a mixture of both human drivers and Self-Driving Ubers, mainly due to the limitations of self-driving software and the long-standing demand for better transportation, which human drivers still fulfill.

Technology also creates new work opportunities while disrupting existing ones. Many predicted that the ATM would spell doom for bank tellers. In fact, ATMs cut the cost of running a local bank so more branches opened, employing more people. Self-Driving Ubers will be on the road 24 hours a day, which means they will need a lot more human maintenance than cars today.

“Our ATC efforts combined with our recent Otto acquisition mean we have one of the strongest self-driving engineering groups in the world, as well as the experience that comes from running a ridesharing and delivery network in hundreds of cities. And our existing partnerships with drivers, as well as new ones with manufacturers like Volvo, will ensure a world-class customer experience for generations to come,” wrote Levandowski.