Lyft and Uber, which helped pioneer the gig economy with its armies of drivers, lose massive amounts of money to pay drivers for each ride. It wants a network of autonomous vehicles providing a majority of its trips within a decade. “And that kind of business model can only survive so long.”Drivers represent more than cost concerns for Uber and Lyft. But there have been setbacks, including the fatal pedestrian crash involving a self-driving Uber in Arizona, which halted the company’s driverless testing for nine months. And while safety is a motivation, the promise of autonomous vehicles is primarily about cost savings.

Source: Washington Post March 29, 2019 12:47 UTC