Robotaxi

A robotaxi, also known as robo-raxi, self-driving taxi or driverless taxi, is an autonomous car (SAE automation level 4 or 5) operated for a ridesharing company.

Several studies highlighted that robotaxis operated in an Autonomous Mobility on Demand (AMoD) service could be one of the most rapidly adopted applications of autonomous cars at scale and a major mobility solution in the near future, especially in urban areas, providing the majority of vehicle miles in the United States within a decade of their first introduction. Moreover, they could have a very positive impact on road safety, traffic congestion and parking. Concerning pollution and consumption of energy and other resources, robotaxis could lead to significant improvement since these services will most probably use electric cars and for most of the rides, less vehicle size and range is necessary compared to usual, individually owned vehicles. The expectable reduction of the number of vehicles means less embodied energy but energy consumption for redistribution of empty vehicles must be taken into account. The fact of eliminating the need for a human driver or chauffeur, which represents a significant part of the operating costs of that type of services, could make it a very affordable solution for the customers and accelerate the spreading of Transportation-as-a-Service (TaaS) solutions as opposed to individual car ownership. However, such developments could lead to job destruction and new challenges concerning operator liabilities.

Predictions of the widespread and rapid introduction of robo-taxis - by as early as 2018 - have not been realized. There are a number of pilot trials underway in cities around the world, some of which are in revenue service and open to the public. However, questions have been raised as to whether the progress of self-driving technology has stalled and whether issues of social acceptance, cybersecurity and cost have been addressed.

Vehicle costs

So far all the trials have involved specially modified passenger cars with space for 2 or 4 passengers sitting in the back seats behind a partition. LIDAR, cameras and other sensors have been used on all vehicles. The cost of early vehicles has been estimated at up to $300,000 due to custom manufacture and specialized sensors. However, the prices of some components such as the LIDAR has fallen by up to 90%. Volume production may see the cost fall further and Baidu announced in June 2021 it would start producing robotaxi for 500,000 yuan (US$77,665) each. Waymo has estimated its hardware costs at $0.30 per mile (~$0.19 per km), but this excludes the cost of fleet technicians and customer support.

Passenger tests

Several companies are testing robotaxi services, especially in the United States and in China. All tests so far only operate in a geo-fenced area. Service areas for robotaxis, often dubbed the Objective Design Domain (ODD) by the industry, are specially designated zones where robotaxis can safely provide service.

In early tests there were one or two "safety drivers" or "safety engineers" to take control back in case of emergency. Early tests offered free rides and were restricted to company employees or pre-approved passengers. Further development has led to testing without a safety drivers in the vehicles although some trials resume the use of drivers under inclement weather such as rain. Vehicles may also be manually driven if a vehicle is becomes "paralysed" by a situation out of which it cannot manoeuvre automatically. In these cases either a support driver is brought to the vehicle or the car is operated remotely. Revenue service for the general public has been introduced in a number of trials.

Separate to these efforts have been trials of shared autonomous vehicles with larger vehicles on fixed routes with designated stops, able to carry between 6 and 10 passengers. Most of these shuttle buses operate a low speeds although recently a number of vehicles capable of highway speeds have been revealed including the Zoox and the Cruise Origin.

Taxi license

In February 2018 in Arizona, the state has granted Waymo a Transportation Network Company permit.

In February 2022 in California, The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) issued Drivered Deployment permits to Cruise and Waymo to allow for passenger service in autonomous vehicles with a safety driver present in the vehicle. These carriers must hold a valid California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) Deployment permit and meet the requirements of the CPUC Drivered Deployment program. And in June 2022, Cruise has scored final approvals to operate a commercial robotaxi service in San Francisco.

In April 2022, Chinese companies Baidu and Pony.ai received permits to deploy robotaxis without humans in the driver seat on open roads within a 23 square mile area in the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, and it was the first time in their home country.

First trials

In August 2016, MIT spinoff NuTonomy was the first company to make robotaxis available to the public, starting to offer rides with a fleet of 6 modified Renault Zoes and Mitsubishi i-MiEVs in a limited area in Singapore. NuTonomy later signed three significant partnerships to develop its robotaxi service: with Grab, Uber’s rival in Southeast Asia, with Groupe PSA, which is supposed to provide the company with Peugeot 3008 SUVs and the last one with Lyft to launch a robotaxi service in Boston.

In August 2017, Cruise Automation, a self-driving startup acquired by General Motors in 2016, launched the beta version of a robotaxi service for its employees in San Francisco using a fleet of 46 Chevrolet Bolt EVs.

Testing and revenue service timeline

''Trials listed have a safety driver unless otherwise indicated. The commencement of a trial does not mean it is still active.''

Uber ATG

Uber began development of self driving vehicles in early 2015. In September 2016 the company started a trial allowing a select group of users of its ride-hailing service in Pittsburgh to order robotaxis from a fleet of 14 modified Ford Fusions. The test extended to San Francisco with modified Volvo XC90s before being relocated to Tempe, Arizona in February 2017.

In March 2017, one of Uber's robotaxis crashed in self-driving mode in Arizona, which led the company to suspend its tests before resuming them a few days later. In March 2018, Uber paused self-driving vehicle testing after the death of Elaine Herzberg in Tempe, Arizona, a pedestrian struck by an Uber vehicle while attempting to cross the street, while the onboard engineer was watching videos. Uber settled with the victim's family.

In January 2021 Uber sold its self driving division, Uber ATG, to Aurora Innovation for $4 billion while also investing $400 million into Aurora for a 26% ownership stake.

Waymo

In early 2017, Waymo, the Google self-driving car project which became an independent company in 2016, started a large public robotaxi test in Phoenix using 100 and then 500 more Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivans provided by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles as part of a partnership between the two companies. Waymo also signed a deal with Lyft to collaborate on self-driving cars in May 2017. In November 2017, Waymo revealed it had begun to operate some of its automated vehicles in Arizona without a safety driver behind the wheel. And in December 2018, Waymo started self-driving taxi service, dubbed Waymo One, in Arizona for paying customers. By November 2019, the service was operating autonomous vehicles without a safety backup driver.

GM Cruise

In January 2020, Cruise exhibited the Cruise Origin, a Level 4–5 driverless vehicle, intended to be used for a ride hailing service.

In February 2022, Cruise started driverless taxi service in San Francisco. Also in February 2022, Cruise petitioned U.S. regulators (NHTSA) for permission to build and deploy a self-driving vehicle without human controls. , the petition is pending.

Other developments

Many automakers have announced their plans to develop robotaxis before 2025 and specific partnerships have been signed between automakers, technology providers and service operators. Most significant disclosed information include:
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