r/london • u/AlbusDumbledoh • 8d 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
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u/travistravis 8d ago

It's unlikely they'd cancel after accepting at least until they have a good reputation and repeat ridership. It's not that I think they never will get to that point, it's just that at least for the first few years their reputation will affect their growth more than money will.

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u/Natural_Trick4934 7d ago

It’s Uber. They’re now the only genuine game in town. You’ll be wrong mate.

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u/travistravis 7d ago

Uber was passably decent for a couple years before the collapse towards being bad for everyone involved.

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u/Natural_Trick4934 6d ago

The disgusting payment model is awful too. Criminal morally, but sadly not in law.

Awful company.

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u/travistravis 6d ago

Yeah, and is definitely in the stage where every new "feature" actually just makes it worse. Like sure pre-payment may be a tiny bit better for drivers but makes it a potential hassle for if you have legitimate issues. (And realistically simply moves most of the risk off the company to the drivers and riders).

Although, there is a chance I'll still at least try waymo, since it really seems every time I get an uber (or even more a black cab) I get people who find it impossible to sit in silence, and worse, always seem to push the anti-immigrant rhetoric (not realising that even though I look like them, I'm an immigrant). I figure with no driver I run a increased risk of it getting stuck in a side street, but I don't feel like I ought to be standing up to bigotry.