Self-Driving Uber officially hits the road in Pittsburgh

Self-Driving Ubers are now ready to ferry commuters to and fro under the watchful eye of a trained Uber employee sitting behind the wheel in case of emergencies. Image Uber

Uber is one of the top companies that are currently developing self-driving cars. Now their hard work has paid off as the company officially announces that Self-Driving Uber cars are now available in Pittsburgh.

READ: Self-driving cabs tested in Singapore

The announcement was made via the company’s newsroom site where it mentions that this pilot and real-world testing is critical to the success of the technology. Uber wants to make self-driving cars as viable alternatives to car ownership in future cities.

Uber sees self-driving cars as a means to help cut congestion in cities as well as free up 20% of city space currently being occupied by parked cars. They also hope that the technology will help bring down the number of traffic accidents.

With robots taking over the driving, many drivers under Uber will certainly have concerns and possibly worries with regards to the future of their employment. As of now, the technology is still new so the company is assigning a specially trained individual into the driver’s seat of every Self-Driving Uber for when human intervention is required such as bad weather and other unforeseen circumstances.

About the concerns for employment, Uber uses the analogy of the ATM machine. When ATMs were first introduced, people feared for their jobs in banks. But since running a bank with ATM machines became easier, more branches opened, thereby creating more jobs. The company says it’s the same with self-driving Ubers as these vehicles will be available 24 hours a day and will therefore require a lot more maintenance to be done compared to regular cars.

There are still valid concerns about self-driving cars getting into accidents as some have done in the past but as the technology matures, it could truly have strong potential in helping to unclog the backed up streets of many cities around the world by reducing car ownership in exchange for reliable self-driving cars. Alfred Bayle