"Autonomous cabs are the next step"
Uber has been active in Germany for almost ten years and is shaking up the cab industry. Initially accompanied by many protests, there is now a relatively peaceful coexistence of cab and Uber drivers. In the ntv podcast, Christoph Weigler explains how Uber's head of Germany led the company to success.
Christoph Weigler's job could also be described as a translator. Weigler has had to explain to Uber in California why many things work differently in faraway Germany than in the USA. In Germany, it is unthinkable that private individuals without a passenger transport license would drive other people from A to B for a fee. The corresponding license is just one of many bureaucratic hurdles. Perhaps this is why the manager defines the role of Uber in Germany somewhat differently than in the USA. It's all about partnerships, says Weigler in the podcast. In Germany, Uber is "a great addition to public transport".
However, Uber also enters into partnerships in other areas. Anyone traveling in San Francisco can already see autonomous cabs on the streets. One of the providers is the Alphabet subsidiary Waymo, with which Uber is also cooperating as part of a test run in the Californian coastal city. In Phoenix, Uber users can already get a Waymo car without a driver when booking a ride.
"This is the next big step for us as a company, for the entire industry," says the German head of the tech company. One reason is that accidents can be avoided, "because I am firmly convinced that, in the long term, these autonomous vehicles will be much, much safer than anything controlled by humans."
However, test operations with autonomous vehicles have not yet been completely accident-free. In San Francisco, a self-driving Waymo car ran over a dog this summer. A few weeks later, a robot cab from General Motors subsidiary Cruise collided with a fire engine. And in October, a Cruise robotaxi was involved in an accident with a pedestrian.
Uber, as a ride service provider, is also collaborating with Waymo in the USA, utilizing autonomous driving technology in San Francisco. This partnership is seen as a significant advancement by Uber's German head, as autonomous vehicles have the potential to significantly reduce accidents due to their inherent safety advantages over human-controlled vehicles.
Despite the promising future of autonomous driving in the cab industry, recent incidents involving self-driving cars in the USA, such as a Waymo car running over a dog and a Cruise robotaxi colliding with a fire engine, highlight the challenges and ongoing safety concerns in this area.
Source: www.ntv.de
