Lyft and driverless technology company Motional will launch a driverless ride-hailing service in Los Angeles, using the Hyundai Ioniq 5.
The two companies have already made public trips at Ioniq 5 throughout Las Vegas, United States (US). Los Angeles users will have access to new autonomous vehicles and a classic ride-sharing service that uses Motion’s Level 4 autonomous system.
Lyft noted that Los Angeles is one of its largest ridesharing markets, while Motional has been operating and present in the city since 2016.
“LA is the second most populous city in the US and represents a huge market opportunity for AV adoption. This service will build on the five years of commercial experience we already have with Lyft,” said Motional President and Chief Executive, Karl Iagnemma.
In this case, the Motional autonomous vehicle has traveled millions of miles in diverse environments without incident of error. The company believes its autonomous taxi service can reduce Los Angeles traffic fatalities increasing by 21 percent in 2021 and pedestrian injuries increasing by 35 percent.
“This is an exciting step for Motional and Lyft as we are bringing robotaxis to Lyft riders in Los Angeles for the first time,” he said.
In research conducted by Lyft, they revealed that people in California have a higher interest in autonomous vehicles compared to other countries and this makes it an attractive market to launch such technology.
As you all know, Los Angeles is the second city Lyft launched in 2013 and it’s only fitting that this will be the second AV marketplace to launch with its partner, Motional.