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A new era for UK transport could begin by 2026, as Chinese robotaxis, backed by Baidu, prepare for potential deployment through partnerships with Uber and Lyft. While Baidu's Apollo Go service has a strong track record of millions of driverless rides in China, the key next step for this expansion involves securing regulatory clearance for trials of the autonomous vehicles in London.
Transport secretary Heidi Alexander said the news was "another vote of confidence in our plans for self-driving vehicles" - but many remain sceptical about their safety.
"We're planning for self-driving cars to carry passengers for the first time from spring, under our pilot scheme – harnessing this technology safely and responsibly to transform travel," Ms Alexander said in a post on X.
Uber said in June it would bring its plans to trial UK driverless cars forward as the government sought to accelerate a framework to allow pilots of small autonomous "bus and taxi like" commercial services in 2026.
"We're excited to accelerate Britain's leadership in the future of mobility, bringing another safe and reliable travel option to Londoners next year," it said of its Baidu partnership on Monday.
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Lyft said in August it would look to deploy driverless taxis in the UK and Germany as part of a European agreement with Baidu. It already operates "autonomous rides" in Atlanta, US - where Uber also operates a robotaxi service through its partnership with Waymo.
Lyft chief executive David Risher said in a post on X on Monday London passengers would be "the first in the region to experience Baidu's Apollo Go vehicles". But both firms still need to convince regulators.
Mr Risher said if green lit, Lyft's initial fleet of dozens of Baidu Apollo Go cars would begin testing next year "with plans to scale to hundreds from there".
Self-driving vehicles have often been lauded as the future of transport, with some claiming they make fewer errors than human drivers.
But many people remain uneasy about the safety of taxis without a human operator.
