A recent Google patent application suggests that the company may indeed be considering the use of autonomous vehicles in the ride-sharing space as some have speculated in recent months. The patent application published on Dec 22, 2016 is titled “Determining Pickup and Destination Locations for Autonomous Vehicles”. It describes a system for determining if a passenger pickup location or destination is accessible or safe for a self-driven vehicle and to suggest alternate locations as needed.
The technology, according to the patent application, is required because self-driving vehicles may not always be able to operate everywhere a human driver would.