London’s got its first driverless cab, but everyone’s wondering if it’ll steal cabbies’ jobs and whether anyone actually fancies being chauffeured round by a glorified toaster.
42% say ‘no chance’, 29% say ‘go on then’, and the rest are waiting to see if it survives a roundabout at Elephant & Castle.
Robotaxis start taking paying passengers on Thursday, and cabbies are already wondering if they’re about to be replaced by a Nissan with commitment issues.
Uber’s adding autonomous trips in London, and every other operator’s lining up like it’s Black Friday for robots.
Wayve’s robotaxis are rolling out with a human babysitter behind the wheel for now, but the cars are meant to drive themselves — basically London’s first cab that insists it’s independent while still needing someone to watch it like a toddler near a plug socket.
Uber’s Wendy Lee says this launch is about reaching ‘driver‑out technology’, which is a polite way of saying the cab eventually turns up without a human — like a minicab that’s ghosted its own driver.
These modified Mach‑Es have a radar on the roof doing all the thinking, and once TfL gives the nod, we’ll have Nissan Leafs driving around with no human at all — basically London’s first taxi that can judge your route choices without a driver rolling their eyes.
Uber insists there’s ‘no race’ to ditch the driver, yet 140,000 people have already signed up — proving Londoners will try anything once, even a cab that might turn up with nobody in it but the car having an existential crisis.
Ms Lee says autonomous cars have a ‘super‑human track record’, which is bold considering half of them have already behaved like they’re auditioning for Robot Wars.
Waymo wandered into a crime scene, and Uber once hit someone in Arizona, so when Ms Lee says autonomous cars have a ‘super‑human track record’, Londoners are thinking: yeah — super‑human in the sense of a Marvel villain on its first day out.
Ms Lee says London’s been ‘pretty positive’ about robotaxis, but with 100,000 Uber drivers watching, it’s less a warm welcome and more the feeling you get when a new hire shows up who’s clearly been brought in to replace you.
GMB’s David McMullen says we need to be careful rolling out driverless cars or we’ll trigger ‘unprecedented disruption’ — which is union‑speak for: don’t be shocked when a robot tries to take your job, and 100,000 cabbies collectively go absolutely spare.
People’s comments basically boil down to: ‘Great, another thing in London that can run you over, ignore you, and still charge surge pricing.
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