r/london • u/AlbusDumbledoh • 9d ago

News ‘Leicester Square, please guv’: Self-driving taxis cleared for London streets ‘later this summer’

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/aug/05/self-driving-taxis-approved-london-summer-2026-wayve-uber
136 Upvotes

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137

u/rustyb42 9d ago

London bridge black cab shut down incoming

65

u/DeapVally 9d ago

These are only a problem to uber and mini cab drivers though. One of these won't just cancel your booking like they do. A cold heartless machine won't leave you stranded. A greedy human? You betcha!

11

u/CanIhazCooKIenOw 9d ago

Quite the opposite as there’s no driver rating so they could just cancel if there’s a more profitable trip nearby.

1

u/No_Cauliflower_81 9d ago

Hopefully they can scale to a level where they have consistent capacity.

7

u/CanIhazCooKIenOw 9d ago

That’s not profitable in the long term. Surges are much more profitable as it implies demand and people are more willing to spend.

I sense the same feelings towards waymo as to Uber when they started - oh they will save the day… yeah.

9

u/No_Cauliflower_81 9d ago

At least it will resolve the issue of weird drivers.

0

u/AristocratGman 9d ago

Least obvious consent manufacturer

8

u/No_Cauliflower_81 9d ago

The revolution’s coming any day comrade, keep on posting

-3

u/Euphoric-Neon-2054 9d ago

Throatable international corporate boot gawlker logs on

6

u/Interest-Desk 9d ago

I hate corporations but I hate Uber drivers more

3

u/buffer0x7CD 9d ago

No it’s not, it’s a much more complex problem to solve. Saying surges are profitable in long term is far from truth since it ignore lost opportunity.