The world of self-driving vehicles has seen quite some interesting developments as of late. A major announcement was made late last week, as Waymo and Lyft are partnering up for a new venture. This is a development very few people saw coming, although it goes to show companies focusing on ride-sharing and self-driving vehicles can achieve similar goals with ease.
Waymo and Lyft Is Quite a Powerful Combination
Most people will have heard of Waymo, the self-driving subsidiary of Google’s parent company Alphabet. The company has been working on self-driving vehicles for quite some time now and is looking to make more progress by partnering with Lyft. The ride-sharing service provider is one of Uber’s main competitors
The reason for this partnership remains a bit unclear, although it is evident something like this was bound to happen sooner or later. Both companies are expected to develop a pilot project and perhaps develop new products. It is possible Lyft users in certain regions will be able to hail a self-driving car instead of dealing with a human driver. This has not been officially confirmed by either company, though.
It is evident Lyft is in a powerful position to propel the self-driving car industry forward. Combining said innovative technology with ride-hailing applications can lead to some interesting results. Moreover, both companies highly value the prospect of making roads safer and transportation more accessible. Introducing a handful of self-driving cars will have an impact on overall traffic conditions, that much has been determined already.
Waymo is one of the market leaders when it comes to self-driving technology. Although a lot of companies are working on similar projects as well, Waymo has a lot of financial backing to experiment with this technology and come up with new products and services. Collaborating with such a powerful entity can be quite positive for Lyft, as they want to turn their vision into reality. This can only be done by forging strategic partnerships such as this one.
It is also worth mentioning Lyft has been keeping a close eye on the self-driving car industry as of late. They partnered with General Motors in 2016, who, in turn, acquired a self-driving startup earlier. It seems obvious Lyft wants to keep all of their options open when it comes to self-driving vehicles, and not just put all of their eggs in one basket. Whether or not that will affect the partnership with GM, remains to be seen.
In the end, this new partnership goes to show Waymo is more than willing to move on after its deteriorating relationship with Uber. Partnering with the platform’s rival is one way of sending a clear message. The end goal remains to make self-driving technology accessible to as many consumers as possible, perhaps even through the use of multiple ride-hailing applications. An interesting future awaits us, that much is certain.
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