ust a week ago, Pittsburgh self-driving vehicle startup Aurora made a huge splash by taking on the entirety of Uber’s self-driving car operations. Now the other giant ride-hailing service, Lyft, has announced that they’re partnering with Motional to have fully autonomous vehicles (with no safety driver) on the road by 2023.

The recently-renamed Motional was created through a partnership between Hyundai Motor Group and Aptiv, which has had its main research and development office in Pittsburgh since 2013. Last year, they moved their office from O’Hara Twp. to Hazelwood Green…

Since 2018, Lyft has provided more than 100,000 paid rides in self-driving cars with Motional/Aptiv. Customers have responded with overwhelming approval: 94% would ride in one again.

Those rides — and the rides happening right now on Pittsburgh roads — all have a driver at the wheel to take over if necessary. By 2023, Lyft and Motional hope to field robotaxis that need no humans driving at all.
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