In the article “Waymo Could Thin Already Shrinking Rideshare Driver Earnings,” the Nashville Scene reports on the impact Waymo’s autonomous ride-hailing taxis will have on Nashville rideshare drivers after their rollout next year. While it is anticipated to decrease their income, the author cited a study led by GW Engineering researchers to explain that they may not replace all rideshare drivers anytime soon.
Here is an excerpt from the article: “You see an autonomous vehicle on the road, and you’re just amazed,” said Leah Kaplan, a Ph.D. student in systems engineering at GWU who worked on the study. “But it’s easy to forget about all the other pieces that the driver was providing before.” Kaplan explains that removing the driver doesn’t eliminate all labor, but rather splits it into new roles –– those include remote operators, customer support, fleet maintenance and incident coordinators.”
Read the full article on Nashville Scene.