Lyft partners with May Mobility to bring robotaxis to Atlanta

• Lyft has partnered with May Mobility to introduce autonomous vehicles in Atlanta. The rollout will begin this summer, with plans to expand to Dallas at a later point.
• Lyft’s move into the autonomous vehicle space is supported by partnerships with Mobileye and Marubeni to accelerate the technology’s adoption.
• Waymo, the market leader in robotaxis, operates in several major U.S. cities and has partnered with Uber to expand its fleet.

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Waymo, a leader in robotaxis with its fleet of autonomous vehicles, could face competition as Lyft announced a new partnership it plans to bring to market.

Lyft’s partnership with May Mobility

The company revealed on Friday, March 21, its plan to introduce self-driving cars in Atlanta. The plan would include a partnership with May Mobility starting in the summer.

According to Lyft’s announcement, May Mobility will roll out minivans equipped with autonomous technology. Lyft has already partnered with Mobileye and Marubeni, two international companies, to accelerate its entry into the robotaxi space.

May Mobility currently operates in both the U.S. and Japan, with close to half a million autonomous rides completed. In most cases, a driver remains in the vehicle to intervene in case of safety issues.

Lyft refers to its self-driving vehicles as AVs (autonomous vehicles) and is gradually introducing them to the thousands of users on its platform.

Lyft’s executive vice president of driver experience said that adding more cars, whether driven by humans or AVs, improves arrival times. He said this increases ride availability and expands the overall ride-share market.

How lucrative is the robotaxi industry?

According to a report from Barron’s, Americans drive nearly 3.3 trillion miles annually, which is in addition to the money spent on services like Uber. The report suggests the robotaxi market could generate up to $6 trillion in profit.

Waymo, owned by Alphabet, has recently partnered with Uber to expand its robotaxi fleet.

Waymo currently operates in cities like Austin, San Francisco, Phoenix and Los Angeles, with plans to expand to Miami and join Lyft in Atlanta.

The company reports offering 200,000 rides per week without a driver in the car.

General Motors ends robotaxi program

Meanwhile, General Motors has announced its departure from the robotaxi market, ending its “Cruise” program. GM is now focusing its autonomous technology on personal cars with a hands-off, eyes-on feature.

Lyft says its efforts in Atlanta are just the beginning, with plans to expand to Dallas next.