Lyft and driverless technology firm Motional announced on Thursday that residents in Los Angeles will be able to book robotaxis through the ride-hailing company’s app, but did not specify when the service would be available. Overall regulatory scrutiny and delayed commercial adoption of autonomous vehicle technology has caused investors to be concerned about the deployment of robotaxi services.
After Las Vegas, Los Angeles will be the second city where companies will offer driverless taxi services. Motional is a joint venture between Hyundai Motor and automotive technology company Aptiv that uses Hyundai Motor’s IONIQ5 electric car for the robotaxi service. In addition, the autonomous vehicle technology firm has a 10-year agreement with Uber Technologies to supply driverless vehicles.
