The combination of autonomous vehicles with ride-sharing was bound to happen. The possibility of the two methods of transportation working together to provide fast and inexpensive service to anyone is almost a no lose situation and highly desirable by many.
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From the early discussions of autonomous vehicles, the idea has been posed that autonomous vehicles could provide much needed transportation services to the elderly, handicapped, youth, and anyone with difficulties or the inability to drive with easy transportation. Without the need for a driver, those with vision or other problems could get to places without having to rely on bus schedules and friends and neighbors to get to the grocery store, doctor appointments, and other places. For a complete discussion on autonomous vehicles, See Autonomous Vehicles.
Ride-sharing has quickly become wildly popular despite push-back from taxi companies who see it as a threat. Taxis must abide by various regulations and rules that ride-sharing organizations have managed to bypass; taxi and limousine services see this as giving ride-sharing organizations an unfair advantage since they are basically doing the same activity. There have been concerns with background checks of ride-sharing drivers, although the most popular services generally review the driving record and background. However safety is always a concern. For a complete discussion on ride-sharing, See Ride-sharing and Car-sharing.
In March 2016, various sources reported that Uber was looking at incorporating autonomous or semi-autonomous cars into its fleet. This would be a significant change since currently Uber drivers use their own vehicles. Uber sees the use of autonomous driving as next stage of growth. Ultimately it plans to replace many of its drivers with autonomous vehicles. On September 14, 2016, Uber began a pilot program in Pittsburgh using fourteen self-driving vehicles with a safety monitor and an engineer in the front seats in case any issues arise. This is a limited pilot as only fourteen vehicles are in use, they all have drivers in event of situations the vehicle cannot handle, and they are traveling over only certain areas of the city. While these areas include some highway and well as side streets, all roads are well marked. One of the large concerns with autonomous vehicles is how they will handle—or if they can handle—inclement weather and other road hazards that a human routinely handles.
Pittsburgh is known for heavy traffic and experiences all four seasons, with rain, falling leaves, snow, ice, and the associated potholes. The vehicles in use are modified Ford Fusions and Volvo SUVs. Uber is approaching autonomy carefully and is very conservative about letting the software run on its own; during trips to show the press how it functioned, the safety drivers took over control when pedestrians were crossing the street, making a left turn across traffic, through a construction zone, and onto a bridge on-ramp. The vehicles are not allowed to make right turns on red lights or do anything remotely risky. Bridges are difficult, and the safety drivers will in general take over. The difficulty with bridges is that they lack environmental cues; the system has mapped fire hydrants, trees, and signs, but bridges have none of these visual cues. This approach makes sense since the riders are basically human test subjects who may or may not understand the risk they are assuming by using the autonomous vehicles. Changing seasons may also confuse the car as the automobile may not recognize trees that have leafed out, snow that has accumulated, or other situations that affect travel on roadways.
The first riders will be those regular Uber users who have been invited to give the autonomous vehicles a try. The first rides will be free and again must be within the designated area, both the pick-up site and the destination. A tablet in the vehicle displays information about the ride the person is about to take and information during the trip such as speed, route, and what sensors can see around it. The tablet is also there to help riders get used to not interacting with a driver. The car has indicator lights that identify when the vehicle is in manual mode, ready for autonomous mode, or in autonomous mode. It signals the driver that the vehicle is giving up control to the driver, the vehicles provides a chime or beep and changes the indicator light; slight notification that the driver needs to take control. Drivers will have to stay alert and will not be able to be doing other activities while transporting passengers. With semi-autonomous vehicles, early drivers have reported getting very used to what their vehicle does for them and then not being as aware as they need to be when driving a different vehicle.
Similar to cruise control, any intervention deactivates autonomous mode. If the driver hits the brake, gas, or turns the steering wheel past seventeen degrees, the driver is now in control of the vehicle. Each safety monitor has received two weeks of training on the vehicles, which are outfitted with laser sensors, cameras, and radar that can see in 360 degrees. The car uses this data to build a three-dimensional map from the gathered data, which is 1.4 million data points every second. For mapping, the vehicles use GPS technology and proprietary maps.
Concerns with both autonomous vehicles and ride-sharing surround insurance. With autonomous vehicles, if the vehicle has an accident, who is at fault? The owner of the vehicle even though he was not in control of the vehicle at the time, or is it a manufacturer's defect or a defect in the coding, so liability would fall on the manufacturer?
It gets even more complicated for Uber since their vehicles are modified with aftermarket parts; that scenario has not been discussed as frequently as vehicles built to be autonomous. What if it is the aftermarket components that fail? Is the manufacturer of those parts then liable for the accident? Is Uber liable because they owned the car, even though an independent contractor was driving it? While some manufacturers have stated that they will accept liability for vehicles they manufacture to be autonomous, aftermarket parts manufacturers seem to be quiet on the subject.
Ride-sharing is equally as complicated with drivers driving a company-owned vehicle. Does that make them employees instead of independent contractors? The transportation network companies have treated drivers as contractors from the beginning although groups of drivers have filed suit stating that they are really employees. It is easier to state they are contractors since they are using their own vehicles. Once they are driving a company-owned car, how are they not employees of Uber? Does Uber now have to accept responsibility for any losses if the vehicle in autonomous mode has an accident?
The autonomous Ubers are the first real experience linking passengers to autonomous vehicles. While the vehicles are being handled very conservatively, with safety monitors and engineers in the front seats and the technology set to be very cautious, it is an excellent opportunity to see how the public will respond to autonomous vehicles. Some are afraid of letting a vehicle drive on its own and do not believe that it can handle normal situations on its own. Only time will tell how well the vehicles maneuver even the restricted area they are traveling in, and how the public will respond to them.