In Las Vegas, 96 per cent of passengers would use Lyft’s self-driving car again

Copyright: Lyft

Lyft and Aptiv have announced that 5,000 self-driving rides have been completed in Las Vegas, with 96 per cent of passengers indicating intention to ride again.

In January, the autonomous programme was launched at the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), and extended into an ongoing transport mode for Las Vegas in May, consequently launching a fleet of Aptiv self-driving vehicles into the network.

The average passenger rating has been calculated at 4.96 out of five, with 20 per cent of passengers already experiencing their second or third self-driving ride.

“Lyft is the largest network currently deploying a commercial autonomous programme to the public,” said Raj Kapoor, Lyft’s Chief Strategy Officer. “We’re committed to redefining our cities around people instead of cars and our partnership with Aptiv is helping make this a reality.”

The self-driving rides work exactly like standard Lyft rides: if a passenger is in range when a vehicle is available, they request to ride and pay via the Lyft app.

“Hitting 5,000 consumer rides is a major milestone, not just for Aptiv and Lyft, but for the entire mobility space,” said Glen De Vos, CTO of Aptiv and President of Aptiv’s Mobility and Services group. “This is a first-of-its-kind commercial self-driving programme and we are proud to be offering autonomous vehicles for public use. We continue to see exponential growth in passenger rides, with nearly perfect user ratings. Our partnership demonstrates the viability of our commercial self-driving product, creates better efficiency for transportation network providers and offers consumers safer and more accessible transport.”