In brief: Although certain companies operating in the self-driving car industry have faced public scrutiny following fatal autonomous crashes, Lyft has managed to keep a low profile. The company's autonomous car passenger program made its debut at CES 2018 in January, and its public passenger program has reached an impressive milestone - Lyft's autonomous cars have conducted over 5,000 unmanned passenger rides in Las Vegas.
Lyft and partner company Aptiv have reached a significant milestone with their self-driving vehicles. As of today, the companies' autonomous cars have taken citizens out on over 5,000 rides throughout the Las Vegas Strip.
If you're not up to date on Lyft's autonomous plans, the company has been working with Aptiv to offer Las Vegas users an in-app option to use a self-driving vehicle for their ride instead of a human-controlled vehicle. The program debuted at CES 2018 and it's grown quite a bit since.
The fact that the service has operated so smoothly is impressive in and of itself, but it's even more interesting given the situation some of Lyft's autonomous competitors have found themselves in.
For example, an autonomous Uber vehicle failed to break for pedestrian Elaine Herzberg back in March, leading to her tragic death. Tesla faced similar issues shortly after when Model X driver Walter Huang fatally crashed after his vehicle veered towards a highway barrier.
Even more impressive than Lyft's scot-free track record is all of the positive user feedback the company's tech has received. Lyft says 96 percent of its self-driving passengers intend to use the service again, and 20 percent have already given it a second or third try.
Additionally, Lyft's passenger feedback hovers at around 4.96 stars (out of 5), with riders saying the trips felt like "amazing," safe experiences.
If you're traveling to Las Vegas in the near future and want to take one of Lyft's self-driving cars out for a spin, simply check the app for the "Lyft Self-Driving" option.
https://www.techspot.com/news/76075-lyft-self-driving-vehicles-have-performed-5000-passenger.html
