Lyft co-founder says self-driving vehicles won't replace drivers for at least a decade

Human drivers on the Lyft platform won't be replaced by self-driving vehicles anytime soon, company co-founder and president John Zimmer told the audience today at TechCrunch Disrupt .

"I can't imagine at any time over the next decade-plus where we would need fewer drivers," he said, noting that he envisions self-driving vehicles delivering between 1% and 10 % of trips in the future.

"What we do in our industry is maybe 1% of the vehicle-kilometres travelled," he said. "There is much more room for growth in our overall business."

Over the past decade, more than 112 million Lyft passengers have taken more than 3 billion rides, and 5 million drivers, "3% of the U.S. workforce," Zimmer said, have earned tens of billions of dollars.

During his interview with transportation editor Kirsten Korosec, Zimmer was hesitant to commit to a timeline in which he thinks self-driving vehicles will enter broader commercial service.

"I still think it's only a few years away, but it's very hard to predict," he said. "It's that last percent of a technical issue, and then you have to reduce the cost of self-driving vehicles. So it's going to happen. I strongly believe it's not a matter of if, but obviously when."

If that were to happen, Zimmer thinks the initial rollout will likely happen on platforms like Lyft. The best way to bring self-driving vehicles to market, he said, is on a “hybrid grid.” Although autonomous vehicles have advanced in their capabilities, they are still unable to handle all the conditions they will encounter on the roads. Even if they are able to safely complete 10% of the journeys, this is not a sufficient number to embark passengers en masse.

"Imagine being on AT&T or Verizon and making a call out of 10. That wouldn't be a good network to be on," Zimmer said. One could be an autonomous vehicle with one of our partners, nine will come from our community of drivers. And so I think what we're doing is super important and can scale as this technology is ready. »

Lyft's strategy for autonomous vehicles has changed significantly over the past year. In April 2021, the company sold its self-contained unit to Toyota subsidiary Woven Planet for $550 million, saving the company $100 million annually in operating expenses. Instead, Zimmer said the company has prioritized partnerships over internal development.

In August, Lyft and autonomous vehicle technology company Motional launched the robotaxis in Las Vegas on the Lyft network.

"I think it's too early to pick a winner," he said. “Today, it is a question of having several partners. Ten years from now? Too hard to predict."

As Lyft strives to add autonomous vehicles to its network, many of the company's drivers today are potentially supplemented with advanced Level 2 driver assistance systems, known as of ADAS, including Tesla's Autopilot and possibly its Full Self Driving (FSD) software. These systems automate some driving functions, but drivers still need to keep their hands on the wheel and their eyes on the road when engaged.

Tesla has come under fire from regulators over problems with its ADAS, which have been linked to several crashes. The drivers also sued Tesla, claiming it falsely advertised the autonomous capabilities of its software.

When Korosec asked Zimmer if Lyft had considered banning the use of Level 2 ADAS like autopilot or FSD, he replied that Lyft "believ[s] that regulators are our best regulators when it comes to this level of security.”

Of course, in its Terms of Service, Lyft already regulates its drivers in some ways, including stating that drivers cannot “engage in reckless behavior while driving” or “operate a vehicle that is unsafe to drive.”< /p>

When pressed, Zimmer said Lyft would "continue to evaluate" its policy regarding driver use of Level 2 autonomous assistants. is our top priority. And so, in your view, it's something that will continue to be looked at."