Lyft and autonomous driving company nuTonomy has
rolled out a fleet of robo-taxis throughout Boston. The two companies first
publicized their partnership in June and authorities in Boston have only just
granted the firms permission to offer Lyft users rides in fully-autonomous
Renault Zoe models.
Mashable reports that the program has started in the
city’s Seaport district and that all the autonomous taxis will have human
drivers behind the wheel in case anything goes wrong. Beyond the program being
a vital tool to improve Lyft’s and nuTonomy’s autonomous systems, the program
will help to educate the public about driverless cars.
This isn’t nuTonomy’s first rodeo when it comes to a
robotaxi service. In fact, it first rolled out the technology in the One-North
business district of Singapore in August 2016.
