This month Uber rolled out driverless cars in Pittsburgh.
Riders in the Pennsylvania city could potentially hail one of four autonomous vehicles the ridesharing service is currently testing. To be fair, they're not totally driverless--two engineers sit in the front seat monitoring the tech. But it's one of the first opportunities for the general public to experience the tech, which makes it a big step forward for autonomous vehicle technology. And use of driverless cars in ridesharing is likely to expand: Over the weekend Lyft, the other ridesharing giant, announced autonomous vehicles would account for the majority of its rides by 2021.
Uber hasn't announced if they'll expand the pilot program to other cities. But Chicago could be on the list--the city of Chicago is working on the Beta City initiative, which is identifying "innovation zones" in the city where driverless cars and other tech could be tested. However, not everyone is a fan. Last week Ald. Edward Burke (14th) and Ald. Anthony Beale (9th) introduced an ordinance to ban operation of autonomous vehicles in Chicago until they know "beyond any doubt" that the vehicles are safe.
Though Uber and politicians will dictate how the tech rolls out, the impact of autonomous cars will be most strongly felt by those who get behind the wheel everyday: rideshare drivers. What do they think about the tech? Would they drive an autonomous vehicle? Will they miss driving?
To find out, we hailed an Uber and asked.
On a recent Friday morning commute, I chatted with Sam Booker. He's lived in Chicago for 61 years and started driving Uber about nine months ago, because he had retired and "was getting bored," he said. He drives about three to four times per week.
When asked about driverless cars, Booker has some big hesitations about the tech and isn't sure that he would be comfortable in a driverless car--yet. He added that he isn't sure about the cost savings of cutting out drivers and wonders how the tech will perform when interacting with other human drivers on the road. He knows the city really well, and gets frustrated when Google Maps sends him down alley and back entrances, mistakes that humans wouldn't necessarily make. What if a driverless car makes the same sort of errors?
Listen to our conversation with Booker here.
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