"For its debut in Nashville, where Waymo has been testing vehicles for several months, Waymo says that Lyft will initially be handling fleet management only, such as vehicle cleaning and maintenance, via the Lyft subsidiary Flexdrive. As Waymo scales up service, riders will eventually be able to use the Lyft app to summon an autonomous vehicle, too, Waymo says, though the company wouldn't specify when riders could expect that to take place."
"The new alliance underscores how Waymo is keeping its options open and is avoiding getting too close with any one company-at least for now. Earlier this year, Waymo started working with Lyft competitor Uber in Austin and Atlanta, and it is planning to launch in Miami and Dallas by working with electric vehicle fleet company Moove and car rental company Avis Budget Group."
"Lyft was actually one of the early companies to partner with Waymo, eight years ago, when the two companies collaborated on pilot projects and product development efforts before Waymo had launched a paid service across several cities. Lyft also ran a small, 10-vehicle deployment with Waymo in Phoenix back in 2019. But the ride-hail company has since been widely seen as having fallen behind when it comes to autonomy, while Uber jumped to work with Waym"
Waymo will partner with Lyft to launch an autonomous ride-hail service in Nashville next year. Lyft will initially handle fleet management via its Flexdrive subsidiary, covering vehicle cleaning and maintenance. As the service scales, riders will be able to summon autonomous vehicles through the Lyft app, though no timeline was specified. Waymo is pursuing multiple distinct partnerships across cities, including alliances with Uber in Austin and Atlanta and arrangements with Moove and Avis Budget Group for Miami and Dallas. Waymo and Lyft previously collaborated on pilots and a small Phoenix deployment in 2019, and partnership structures vary by market.
Read at Fortune
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]