The Uber transport company announced Tuesday that it will operate with Autonomous vehicles In London from next year, within a pilot project of the British government to promote an innovative sector promoted by the development of artificial intelligence.
According to the plan presented on Tuesday by the British Ministry of Transportation, taxi and transport services can be tested in England starting next year.
These pilot projects will be initially proven on a small scale from 2026, before a possible generalized implementation the following year, according to the Ministry in a statement.
The British government, which aspires to make the country a leader in artificial intelligence, a key technological element in the development of autonomous vehicles, plans to legislate in 2027 to authorize a broader deployment of this mode of transport.
The authorized projects next year will be the first to not require a driver, the government specified.
Initially, there will be a driver present in the autonomous vehicles launched by Uber in London, before the transition to autonomous vehicles.
The British Ministry of Transportation highlights the potential benefits in terms of road safety and accident reduction, since human error “contributes to 88% of road collisions.”
Autonomous taxis services already operate in the United States and, especially, in China.
However, at the end of 2024, General Motors announced that he would put an end to the autonomous taxis business without a driver of its Cruise subsidiary in the United States, after a serious accident at the end of 2023 in which one of its vehicles passed over a pedestrian that had just been hit by another vehicle with driver.