Addison Lee and Oxbotica Driverless Cars

Private hire firm Addison Lee and British driverless car pioneers Oxbotica team up to bring driverless cars in London within three years.

11:47 29 October 2018

Oxbotica and Addison Lee have signed a deal to develop and deploy autonomous vehicles on London streets by 2021. Under the deal, Oxbotica is to create a comprehensive map of every traffic feature of more than 250,000 miles of public roads next month.

 

The partnership could mean that Addison Lee’s fleet of black Mercedes and Prius cabs would be driven autonomously in London with three years. However, the company assured that its 5,000 drivers would remain employed.

 

The company’s chief executive, Andy Boland, said: “Our 5,000 drivers in the UK are going to carry on doing what they are doing. For the foreseeable future I would draw that distinction between premium services, and technology opening those other sorts of services at a relevant price point.”

 

Graeme Smith, chief executive of Oxbotica, said: “This represents a huge leap towards bringing autonomous vehicles into mainstream use on the streets of London, and eventually in cities across the United Kingdom and beyond.”

 

Commenting on the deal, Michael Hurwitz, director of transport innovation, said: “All cities across the UK, including London, need to understand the opportunities, risks and challenges they face when considering how transport will operate in the future.”