Uber and British self-driving technology company Wayve have launched London’s first commercial robotaxi service, marking a major step forward for autonomous transportation in the UK capital.
The service began operating on Thursday, although passengers will initially have a human safety supervisor behind the wheel.
“It’s going to be a phased deployment, so we’re going to start off small,” Wendy Lee, head of product at Uber, told AFP, adding that the number of vehicles will be “in the order of dozens to start”.
London Enters the Robotaxi Era
The launch makes Wayve the first company to offer a robotaxi service to the public in London. The company is moving ahead of competitors including Waymo, owned by Google parent Alphabet, and Chinese technology giant Baidu, which has partnered with Lyft.
Robotaxis are already operating in parts of the United States and China. London is now only the second European city to offer the service, following Zagreb, where Croatian company Verne operates autonomous taxis using technology from China’s Pony.ai. Safety supervisors are also present in those vehicles.
During an AFP demonstration in London on Tuesday, a safety operator briefly took control of a vehicle at an intersection near Big Ben, highlighting why human oversight remains part of the initial rollout.
“This is exactly why we start with safety operators behind the wheel. It’s to ensure that people are safe when they’re driving,” said Kaity Fischer, head of business development at Wayve.
Fully Driverless Taxis Still Await Approval
Uber and Wayve have not yet provided a specific timeline for when their vehicles could operate without a human supervisor.
Waymo told AFP that it plans to begin carrying passengers “with nobody behind the wheel by the end of the year, subject to government approval”.
Lyft, which plans to launch a robotaxi service with Baidu’s Apollo Go in 2027, said it is waiting for guidance from London’s transport authority, Transport for London (TfL), on the rollout of fully autonomous vehicles.
TfL said its guidelines are expected “shortly” and confirmed that no operator has yet started the approval process for fully autonomous vehicles.
At present, Wayve and Uber have safety authorisation for 15 supervised vehicles.
Robotaxi Expansion Plans
For passengers in London, the new service will initially cost the same as a regular Uber ride, making the launch Wayve’s first mass-market deployment.
Wayve plans to expand the service to Tokyo next, followed by 10 additional cities in partnership with Uber, according to Fischer.
The London launch marks another significant milestone in the global race to bring autonomous vehicles into everyday transportation, with companies increasingly testing how the technology can operate safely in busy urban environments.
