Just as streaming subscriptions have made owning movies and music unnecessary, Lyft’s CEO says self-driving technology will end the need to own cars.
“A full shift to ‘Transportation as a Service’ is finally possible, because for the first time in human history, we have the tools to create a perfectly efficient transportation network,” John Zimmer wrote in a Medium blog post Sunday.
Zimmer, who co-founded ride-sharing company Lyft — the San Francisco startup whose bigger and more widely known rival is Uber — offers a couple of key target dates for what he calls the third transportation revolution: He says that in five years, a majority of Lyft rides will be in autonomous vehicles. And he says that by 2025, private car ownership will “all but end” in major cities — meaning significantly fewer cars on the roads.
“This urban reimagination has the opportunity to deliver one of the most significant infrastructure shifts we have ever undertaken as a nation,” Zimmer wrote.
Zimmer’s plan/vision comes on the heels of Uber’s launch of a test self-driving fleet in Pittsburgh last week.
But will autonomous vehicles be legal in most places where Lyft operates in five years? Regulatory roadblocks abound, as do safety concerns. State and local rules vary.
Last week, a couple of aldermen proposed banning self-driving cars in Chicago.
(In California, autonomous vehicle testing requires a driver behind the wheel, which is a pain for Google and other companies working on the technology.)
Meanwhile in Seattle, a proposal expected today would designate a 150-mile stretch of Interstate 5 as a self-driving highway — no human drivers allowed except for during off-peak times.
Federal guidelines from the Department of Transportation were scheduled to be released over the summer but are still being awaited. It’s unclear what their effect would be because they’re expected to defer to state rules, anyway.
