Tests with Autonomous Taxis vs a Good Old ‘Last Mile’-Taxi Trip
- The Transportation Alliance
- Aug 6
- 5 min read
By: Wim Faber, Dutch Journalist and Taxi Specialist, Dutch-Belgian Magazine (Magazine Personenvervoer)
In the world of public transport and taxicabs autonomous vehicles (AV’s) are increasingly grabbing the headlines with monotonous regularity. Often fuelled by top-dollar and (often) hot air spewing PR-agencies, there seems to be no other theme left in the mobility world than autonomous taxis.
In Europe, the United Kingdom (UK) – and particularly its capital London – is well on the way to leading the pack when it comes to legislation and deployment of AV’s. The UK government has designated London as a key location for the development of connected and autonomous vehicle technology, ahead of wider commercial deployment under the Automated Vehicles Act 2024.
Another AV-provider hits London’s streets
Another autonomous taxi provider has just hit London’s streets with test vehicles (including safety drivers): Freenow by Lyft and Baidu, ‘China’s Google’, are running with Apollo Go RT6 Robotaxis. The sixth-generation Apollo Go RT6 vehicles – specifically designed for autonomous use - are currently operating for Freenow by Lyft and Baidu in the London borough of Brent, with security personnel on board. Brent is located outside central London, in northwest Outer London, and is famous for its Wembley Stadium.
This is another step towards the introduction of self-driving taxis in the British capital. Waymo, which operates without partners, has been testing with around a 100 vehicles for some time, and the collaboration between Wayve and Uber is also in operation in London. It is likely that more robotaxi companies will soon boast a photo of their autonomous taxis, typically with the British Parliament as a backdrop.
‘Deep roots in the taxi industry’
FreeNow by Lyft (who invented that long-winded name?), the platform that serves many black cabs in London and is popular with taxi drivers, stated that the vehicles will operate alongside, and not replace, the existing network of licensed taxis and rental cars. The company believes that this hybrid model will increase vehicle availability and reduce waiting times for passengers by expanding the number of vehicles available through the platform.
"As a platform with deep roots in the taxi industry, it is our top priority that autonomous technology supports the professional drivers who keep London moving every day," affirms Thomas Zimmermann, CEO of FreeNow by Lyft. "By integrating these specially designed vehicles from Baidu's Apollo Go into the FreeNow by Lyft ecosystem, we are offering Londoners more sustainable travel options and encouraging them to choose shared mobility services over private cars." There still is a bit of a tussle between Transport for London (TfL) which regulates all taxi and ride-hailing activities in the capital and the national Department of Transport. For the moment it seems that TfL will also regulate robotaxis.
The European Union: slowly but surely
Although only initial steps toward regulating autonomous driving have been announced at the EU level (27 countries), pilot projects with autonomous vehicles are being prepared or implemented in various EU countries. This is happening despite the fact that—with the exception of the non-EU member state of the UK—a European legal framework is still lacking. Almost every week, however, there are reports of new pilot projects somewhere in the European Union.
One of these new pilots will be in Germany. One of the funniest headlines I’ve seen recently is “Hamburgers can now book rides in Moia AVs”. Apart from being pretty cryptic as headline, one wonders how these - perhaps sizzling - hamburgers will manage to book autonomous vehicles (AV’s). The company, Moia, a Volkswagen-offshoot, has been experimenting with autonomous rides for several years, using autonomous and attractively styled VW ID.Buzz vehicles.
Only one of the next lines in the article revealed the outcome of the mystery: residents in certain areas of Hamburg (‘Hamburgers’ in short) are now able to book shared rides on Moia's “up to 10” autonomous AV’s in that part of Hamburg. This large bustling port city in Northern Germany (population 1,9 million), with its innovative public transport mix, and clear taxi- and ride-hailing policies, is testing how on-demand AV services can (also) complement regular public transport, just like regular cabs.
A clever mix of attractive mobility options
That attractive and properly functioning mobility systems exist not only by the ‘blessing’ of an often hyped AV-system, but by a clever mix of attractive heavy and light transport (policy) options in a well-balanced and well-integrated mobility system, escapes many of my journalistic colleagues. Hamburg is a city which regularly finetunes its public transport offering, including taxis, not forgetting the classic ‘last mile-taxi’ linking public transport users to their end destinations or vice-versa.
Under the stewardship of Anjes Tjarks, Hamburg’s energetic senator for transport and mobility transition and in close cooperation with the taxi trade, the city rolled out the fastest taxi electrification programme in Germany. Since January last year, only electric vehicles can be registered as taxi. At the same time the city made sure the trade possessed enough charging points – some of them fast chargers. The city also managed to integrate ride-hailing systems like Uber and Bolt into the licensed taxi system, carefully making sure ride-hailing firms using ‘Mietwagen’ (private hire vehicles) do not compete illegally – offering excessively low fares - with the taxi trade.
Apart from that, well before other German cities like Cologne, Essen and Munich launched minimum fare MBE’s (I’ll spare you the German word for this) for platform-PHV’s, Hamburg already had a similar system, allowing for a 20% price drop compared to the taxi fare or a 20% higher fare. MBE’s, in a policy spearheaded by Germany’s national taxi association, are meant to end illegal and often insane price-cutting by platforms, allowing a maximum of a 20% difference below the taximeter rate.
Moia-test
The Moia-test is part of Hamburg’s Alike mobility programme, which tests autonomous on-demand mobility services to see how they can complement buses and trains (Hochbahn). The train operator will eventually get its own AV’s, supplied by Holon. To use the new Moia service, people need to pre-register, with passengers travelling in the same direction sharing a ride. During this pilot phase, rides are free of charge and vehicles have a safety operator on board. Pick-up and drop-off is at designated virtual stops. Moia's platform integrates vehicles, Mobileye's self-driving system, and a Mobility as a Service (MaaS) software platform.
Home, the ‘old-fashioned’ way
Last April the Hamburg taxi trade – Freenow by Lyft and Hansa Taxi - started a no-frills ‘last mile’ evening and night service to get public transport users in Hamburg suburbs home from or to the nearest metro or train station: ‘After HUUS, to de Bahn’ it is called (HUUS = home in local dialect). The service is available for 6 Euros (£ 5.14). The unsubsidized pilot, which is slowly taking off (autumn and winter will make it more attractive), runs from Sunday to Thursday, between 9.00 pm and 00.30 am; during holidays also at weekends from 9.00 pm to 05.00 am. And all that with readily available non-autonomous cabs.
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