Uber expands self-driving program

Initiating small-talk with an Uber driver could soon become a thing of the past. Well, sort of.

Uber has expanded its self-driving pilot program in the US, moving into San Francisco. It means any UberX user can simply digitally hail a car – but rather than a driver sharing the cabin, there will be two engineers.

First introduced in the Pennsylvanian city of Pittsburgh in September, the pilot program debuts Uber’s autonomous software and hardware, which is retrofitted to existing mainstream vehicles.

But strict laws in California mean the expansion to the west isn’t a full autonomous experience, per se.

Autonomous vehicles cannot be tested unsupervised in California, but Uber plans to get around this by having two engineers on board – one holding the wheel of the vehicle the entire time and the other riding shotgun supervising, therefore making the system more like a driver-assist function.

Uber has provided an option to customers to opt out of a self-driving ride and wait for a human driver instead. Not that many Uber cars are likely to match the XC90’s sumptuous interior.

The expansion also builds on Uber’s $A400 million partnership with Volvo.

The agreement allows Uber to retrofit a condensed version of its bourgeoning autonomous system (with fewer sensors and exterior hardware than the cars trialled in Pittsburgh), and gives the company access to 50 Volvo engineers to further develop its software.

The agreement will be of mutual benefit to Volvo, which is working on its own autonomous systems and will launch its Drive Me autonomous fleet in Sweden next year.