Lyft co-founder once predicted in 2021, most rides would be self-driving. That’s really ambitious and maybe COVID-19 got in the way but we are nowhere near that state of things.
In 2016, Lyft co-founder John Zimmer predicted most of the company’s rides would be self-driving within five years, a transformation that would largely eliminate the need for costly drivers.
“I really think in the next two to three years that kind of actual no driver, driverless vehicle will be something you can order pretty easily on the Lyft platform,” he told CNBC last week in Detroit.
Zimmer, 38, said autonomous vehicles, or AVs, will be used in tandem with traditional drivers for the foreseeable future, which is why he is convinced the company is well positioned to grow in both areas.
That cautionary tone marks a shift from six years ago, when Zimmer sent waves across Wall Street and the automotive industry with his prediction that self-driving cars would soon dominate the industry. Some believed at the time the ride-hailing company and others like it — namely, Uber — could eventually eliminate the need for car ownership.
Source: CNBC
It looks like fully-autonomous vehicles are not going to be here any time soon.