Zurich to Get Robotaxis Next
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Robotaxis are being trialled mostly in the US, China, and a few specific niche places like the UAE and Singapore. Europe has been much slower to jump into robotaxi trials. But it’s edging into them now, and we have an announcement about the first robotaxi service launching in Switzerland — in Zurich.
In this case, the companies coming to town with their driverless taxi service are WeRide and Uber. These companies have partnered elsewhere, and they seem focused on trying to scoop up interest and market share as much as possible before competition comes to town. In Europe, they just announced a partnership in Madrid, Spain, a couple of weeks ago. They also already have robotaxi services in Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the UAE and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia.
Robotaxi rides in Zurich are expected to be available via the Uber app later this year.
Together, Uber and WeRide plan to have tens of thousands of robotaxis operating in 15 cities around the world by 2030.
Europe is a top economic market, so one would think companies would be eager to get a robotaxi foothold there. “Europe is a priority region for WeRide, and announcing two European markets in two weeks reflects the speed and efficiency of our expansion strategy,” said Jennifer Li, CFO and head of International at WeRide.
“Switzerland combines one of Europe’s most advanced regulatory environments for autonomous driving with a high-value ride-hailing market – creating strong underlying unit economics for robotaxi services,” China Daily shares. “The WeRide-Uber fleet will scale progressively and in coordination with the authorities as performance milestones are met, including the transition to fully driverless commercial services in core urban areas.”
“Switzerland is a key market for autonomous mobility, combining forward-thinking regulation with a demand for high-quality ride-hailing solutions,” said Sarfraz Maredia, global head of Autonomous Mobility & Delivery at Uber. “Our partnership with WeRide continues to gain momentum across Europe, and we are excited to apply our operational expertise to bring this next generation of autonomous rides to Zurich.”
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