Starting later this summer, some Lyft rides in Atlanta will have empty driver’s seats as the rideshare network begins rolling out autonomous vehicles.
Still, Jeremy Bird, Lyft’s EVP of driver experience, told Tech Brew that the company expects humans to occupy a critical role in the rideshare industry for many years to come, especially if hopes that AVs spur industry growth pan out. To help its drivers navigate the introduction of this technology into Lyft’s fleet, the company recently kicked off a series of forums inviting drivers to share input.
“I think the No. 1 pitfall would be to ignore it,” Bird said. “To say, ‘Oh, this is something that’s gonna happen 10 years down the road. No need to look over here.’ Meanwhile, to be signing deals with autonomous vehicle companies. I don’t think that is fair to drivers.”
Going hybrid: Lyft plans to team up with self-driving tech companies and other partners to bring AVs into the fold amid growing competition in the robotaxi space.
The rideshare network is, for example, planning to launch autonomous rides in Atlanta later this summer, using AV tech company May Mobility’s vehicles. It also plans to roll out robotaxi rides in Dallas in partnership with Mobileye.
“Our world-class fleet management, sophisticated marketplace engine, and large-scale demand represent the best way for AV companies, OEM manufacturers, and fleet owners to commercialize their assets,” Lyft CEO David Risher wrote in a blog post earlier this year. “We partner with those companies to bring exceptional autonomous transportation experiences to riders at scale.”
Lyft executives expect to see AVs integrated into rideshare networks in phases, starting with a slow ramp-up in which they claim driver earnings will not be significantly affected. Eventually, they envision a “hybrid” network in which robotaxis and human-driven vehicles share a larger market, and one day for drivers to perhaps even buy their own AVs and put them to work. As evidence that AVs can create incremental business, they point to markets like San Francisco and Phoenix, where the rideshare business has grown alongside robotaxi deployments.
“We want to grow,” Bird said. “The way that autonomous will help Lyft grow is by providing more options for riders at all times of the day, and being able to serve riders with more diversified supply will mean faster ETAs, will mean overall better experience for riders and will grow the number of people that don’t need to rely on other forms of transportation.”
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Gathering feedback: The company hosted its first Lyft Driver Autonomous Forum in Atlanta in July and will host its next one in San Francisco in August.
“The No. 1 thing we heard from people is they want to be involved in the conversation,” Bird said. “They don’t want this to be something that they’re only reading about from headlines in the press or they’re seeing on the local news.
Company leaders also heard concerns “about what it might mean for the future of rideshare for them as a driver,” Bird said. “There’s a lot of questions.”
He acknowledged that executives don’t yet know what the long-term impact will be on drivers, but emphasized that Lyft sees humans continuing to play an important role, especially given the limitations of technology. Some riders, for example, will continue to want help with their luggage or insights from a human on the local dining scene.
The aim of the forums, according to the company, is to allow drivers the opportunity to contribute to discussions about AVs. In a blog post, Lyft said that participants “will meet regularly to discuss how AVs impact drivers, providing strategic input that will help contribute to Lyft’s policies and plans.”
Each forum will include six to 10 drivers, who will be recruited based on “qualitative data” like driver ratings and loyalty status. “Members for each meeting will be selected based on the topic at hand, representing specific regions or areas of expertise,” according to Lyft. “To ensure continuity, select drivers will participate in multiple meetings.”
Bird said he also believes it’s important to have conversations with drivers everywhere, not just in cities that have robotaxis on the road today, and for the discussion to be the same as the ones company leaders have with other stakeholders like investors. Company leaders will also continue to get driver feedback on AVs and other topics via a quarterly sentiment tracker, Bird noted.
“I think drivers are going to be essential to any rideshare network moving forward,” he said, “and to not have that conversation with them I think is pretty disingenuous.”