In the ride-sharing battle Uber is about to
get a taste of real competition from US operation LYFT.
Lyft was started in San Francisco in 2012, by partners Logan Green and John Zimmer. It followed their launch of Zimride in
2007, which initially aimed to pair up drivers and passengers who wanted to
travel between cities.
Lyft will focus on intra-city ride sharing
just like Uber, and links drivers and passengers via Mobile Phone Apps.
Currently operating in 65 cities across the USA, LYFT is about to step up its
activities, thanks to an investment by GM of USD$500 million.
You may wonder why GM is sinking funds into
a ride-sharing company, but the original idea behind the move has longer term
implications.
Starting with providing cars to LYFT from
its petrol and EV lineups, GM proposes that it will collaborate with LYFT as GM
develops autonomous cars.
Chevrolet Bolt EV |
Chevrolet Malibu petrol |
Then LYFT will arrange delivery of GM self-driving cars to customers via remote/robot control of the autonomous vehicles.
Sounds a bit Jetsons, right? Is this really
where we are heading?
You look out your living room window and an autonomous
car parks outside. You walk up to the car, enter a code on your smartphone, the
car unlocks and as you sit in the driver’s seat, it starts automatically, and
awaits your directions. Yes, definitely Jetson-like!
One thing you must understand about a lot
of Americans who live in densely populated, big cities, like New York, Los
Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco – they believe cars only come in two
colours!
Black (for limos) and Yellow (for cabs)! That’s right.
They don’t own
their own car, they care not a jot about cars in general, and are quite happy
to hire a black or yellow car for their journeys, pay up, get out, and forget
about cars until next time.
So, while the rest of the world
concentrates on driving itself to its destinations, a lot of Americans will pick
up their smartphones and order a car. A car, which drives itself, and saves
them the problem of getting a driver’s licence!
Volvo autonomous concept car |
I’ve ranted about this before, because I am
a dinosaur that loves to drive a car, however when you look at Gen X and Gen Y
(and probably Gen Z), who, broadly speaking, do not have any love affair with cars – this may well
be the way of the future.
Mind you. There’s a fair way to go yet, so
maybe we can just treat GM’s investment in LYFT as a prescient move.
We have to get all the electronic gizmos
set up on highways and byways in order to provide guidance for autonomous cars,
and there’ll be swag of legislative issues, taxes, lobbying, and general
confusion before this proposal finds its feet.
Beware! Dinosaur driving a Bentley! |
I’m not looking forward to it, but I think
by the time it happens I may well be pushing up daisies, and it won’t matter.
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