The first self-driving car to take to public roadways since the fatal Uber crash in Arizona went out on the streets of Frisco, Texas, on Monday.
The car, operated by the Silicon Valley startup Drive.ai, will one day be part of a self-driving taxi service for transit between the Dallas Cowboys facility and nearby retail, offices and apartments, The New York Times reports.
Companies have been working on self-driving cars for years, but all test runs halted after the fatal crash last month. Drive.ai plans to launch its taxi service in July and shows the self-driving car business could make a comeback.
When Drive.ai’s free, daytime-only service begins this summer, it will be open to 10,000 people who live or work in the Dallas area. The cars will travel along a few miles of road where the speed limit does not exceed 45 miles an hour, with passengers being picked up and dropped off at only a few specific locations.
Backup drivers will be behind the wheel, taking control when needed. But as the program expands, Drive.ai plans on moving drivers into the passenger seat and out of the cars entirely by the end of the year.
