Uber and British autonomous-driving company Wayve have launched a commercial robotaxi service in London, marking a major step toward self-driving transport in the UK capital.
The service began on Thursday, but the vehicles will initially operate with trained human safety supervisors behind the wheel. The rollout will also start on a limited scale, with only dozens of vehicles expected to be deployed at the beginning.
Wendy Lee, Uber’s head of product, said the programme would be introduced gradually as the companies assess its performance and safety.
The launch makes Wayve the first company to offer a robotaxi service to the public in London. It comes ahead of planned operations by other major players, including Waymo, owned by Alphabet, and Baidu, which is working with Lyft.
While autonomous taxis are already operating in parts of the United States and China, London becomes only the second European city to introduce such a service. Zagreb, Croatia, previously launched a robotaxi operation using technology supplied by Chinese autonomous-driving company Pony.ai.
During a demonstration in London, a safety operator briefly took control of a vehicle at an intersection near Big Ben, highlighting why human supervisors remain part of the service at this stage.
Wayve’s head of business development, Kaity Fischer, said the presence of safety operators was designed to ensure passengers and other road users remain protected while the technology is being deployed.
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It is not yet clear when Uber and Wayve will move to completely driverless operations, as neither company has provided a specific date.
Waymo, however, said it plans to begin carrying passengers in vehicles without anyone behind the wheel before the end of the year, subject to government approval.
Lyft is also preparing to launch a robotaxi service with Baidu’s Apollo Go in 2027 but is awaiting further guidance from Transport for London (TfL).
TfL said guidelines on fully autonomous vehicles are expected shortly, adding that no operator has yet started the formal approval process for driverless vehicles.
For now, Uber and Wayve have safety authorisation covering 15 supervised vehicles.
Passengers in London will initially pay fares comparable to those charged for conventional Uber rides.
The launch represents Wayve’s first mass-market deployment, with the company planning to expand the service to Tokyo before entering 10 additional cities in partnership with Uber.
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