Uber & Avride Bring Robotaxis To Dallas As Waymo Adds Cities & Begins DoorDash Delivery

Leading autonomous automaker and delivery robot developer Avride has partnered with leading ride-hailing service provider Uber to offer users in Dallas, Texas, the opportunity to ride in an Avride robotaxi.

The service will initially be available across 9 square miles of Dallas, spanning from Downtown to Uptown to Turtle Creek to Deep Ellum. The two plan to expand to more areas soon. The service will commence with an on-board specialist behind the wheel before transitioning to a truly driverless experience in the future.

Dallas riders who request an UberX, Uber Comfort, or Uber Comfort Electric may be matched with an all-electric Avride robotaxi, at no additional cost. They will be provided with the option to accept the robotaxi ride or reject it to avail a non-AV ride.

However, interested riders can boost their chances of being paired with a robotaxi by opting in to the Ride Preferences section.

Riders can unlock the vehicle and start the trip using their Uber app.

“With the world’s largest hybrid network, we’re proving how AVs and drivers can work side by side to make transportation more convenient, sustainable, and affordable for people everywhere,” said Sarfraz Maredia, Global Head of Autonomous at Uber.


This is Uber’s sixth city in which it has deployed robotaxi ride-hailing services.

Recently, Uber and WeRide rolled out robotaxis on the roads of Abu Dhabi, marking the fifth city, following Riyadh as the fourth.

Prior to this, it launched robotaxi services in Austin, Phoenix, and Atlanta, in partnership with Waymo.

It’s nearly impossible to have a conversation about robotaxis and not bring up Waymo’s name.
 

Waymo Expands To New Cities

Waymo revealed that it was bringing its robotaxi fleet to four more cities:

St. Louis, where it will begin manually driving a fleet of its all-electric Jaguar I-PACE vehicles around the city to map it out and “get to know the community.”

Pittsburgh, where it will start with manually driving in Pittsburgh’s downtown core with a fleet of its 5th and 6th generation Waymo Driver and validate its technology on the city’s roads.

Baltimore, where it will lay the groundwork for its services, and work with state officials on regulatory requirements before bringing “the safety, convenience, and magic” of its robotaxis.

Philadelphia, where it recently shifted to testing and validating the autonomous capabilities of its fleet—with specialists behind the wheel—having completed its manual driving program. It will also look at how it can support the city’s transportation goals.

This adds to Waymo’s long list of cities that it’s operating in and targeting. Beginning with San Francisco, Waymo’s targeted city list includes Las Vegas, San Diego, Detroit, Miami, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Orlando, the freeways of San Francisco’s Bay Area, Phoenix, and Los Angeles, as well as global locations Japan and London.

Recently, Waymo partnered with DoorDash to bring users its safety and convenience in grocery and meal deliveries in the Phoenix metropolitan area.

Now, this service is ready to run on public roads!

DoorDash customers who select the Standard delivery option at participating DashMart locations will be automatically eligible for fully autonomous delivery by Waymo vehicles. If matched with a Waymo vehicle, customers will receive instructions in the DoorDash app and use their DoorDash app to unlock the trunk to pick up their order.

Do you think Avride or other companies will be able to challenge Waymo’s commanding position in the robotaxi and autonomous delivery realm?

Let us know in the comments below!