What a week it's been for transport news! We've also learned that Eurostar plans to run direct trains to Germany and Switzerland, and that the Bakerloop bus service will start up this autumn.
Ride sharing app Uber will trial self-driving taxis in London from spring 2026.
The UK tech firm Wayve has announced it is partnering with Uber to launch public road trials of Level 4 (L4) fully autonomous vehicles (i.e. no human safety driver onboard) in London. "These trials will combine Wayve's industry-leading Embodied AI platform with Uber's global mobility network, marking a significant step forward in bringing autonomous vehicles to the streets of Europe at scale," says Wayve.
London is Uber's biggest market in Europe, and the capital's "complex driving environments", says Wayve, will boost the development of L4 technology. The news comes after the UK Secretary of State for Transport, Heidi Alexander, announced an accelerated framework for self-driving commercial pilots.
Said Alexander: "Today's agreement, between two leading names at the forefront of the sector, is a fantastic vote of confidence in this new technology. By fast tracking pilots of self-driving vehicles to spring 2026, we are excited to see safety-first tests that will drive growth, create 38,000 jobs and add £42bn to our economy."
Driverless taxis already operate in China, as well as in a handful of United States cities including Phoenix, San Francisco and Austin, courtesy of Waymo.
There will, however, be concerns that the driverless cars could cause accidents on London's streets. Self-driving vehicles have been involved in numerous crashes in the United States, where road layouts are generally simpler than in the UK. In 2018, Elaine Herzberg became the first pedestrian to be killed by a self-driving car.
Non-profit think tank Centre for London recently opined that the traditional London black cab could be extinct within 20 years, and this news only serves to underscore such a prediction.
You can read more on the plans on Wayve's website.
