It’s happened. Some Pittsburgh residents will now be given the option to take a driverless Uber over their human driven counterparts.
Four Ford Fusion Hybrids are now doin’ the rounds and reportedly, twelve more are ready to go.
The driverless technology has been in testing in the city for around 2 years and have proven their worth as certified ghost-cars. But just to be uber careful (see what I did thar?) the car will contain two technicians that will come along for the ride. They hope to reduce this to one technician and eventually, none at all. TERRIFYING.
While driverless technology has been largely successful on highways, city streets and their unpredictable traffic, pedestrians and other obstacles have been the main challenge for engineers.
The move puts Uber well ahead of the race which now has numerous competitors, but founder and CEO Travis Kalanick reckons his crack team of engineers will keep them at the front of the tech pack.
“We have one of the strongest self-driving engineering groups in the world, as well as the experience that comes from running a ridesharing and delivery network in hundreds of cities,” he said.
Best of luck, Pittsburgh. May your ghost-cars be friendly, devoid of malicious intent and hacker-proof.
Source: ABC.
Photo: Business Insider/Corey Protin.
