Uber is planning a multi-year partnership with Nuro to bring autonomous food delivery to Texas, California, and who knows what other markets as well soon in the future.
Nuro has already partnered with other companies to pursue autonomous deliveries and it was only a matter of time before we would see more of this for Uber too.
The pandemic brought a new demand for delivery services in groceries and more, and despite things going back to 'normal' now there is still high demand for delivery drivers in these markets. That demand isn't likely to drop back down now that people have experienced the convenience of at home grocery and food delivery.
For many families and individuals it has become the norm for them to order once or twice a week, some are ordering once or twice a day. For many markets this can mean high demand for drivers and not enough drivers to keep up with that demand, now autonomous delivery vehicles will be coming in to help.
A lot of those drivers working for Uber and other companies are heavily reliant on tips and not getting decent tips can make the job less cost effective, to the point where it costs them to do the deliveries and doesn't make much sense.
Bringing autonomous vehicles into the mix can ease that pressure on consumers to tip, if adjustments are made in asking them for a tip or educating them that an autonomous vehicle is going the delivery. Might we eventually see this become the norm in the food delivery space? That means that sidewalks and roadways are going to become a lot busier with autonomous vehicles traveling around and so far there is a great deal of skepticism from the public on whether or not that would be a good idea.
We will see that partnership with Uber start to roll out in the fall this year and depending on success it could expand, it already has sights on the Bay Area too.
pics: pixabay
Sources:
https://www.reuters.com/technology/nuro-7-eleven-launch-california-autonomous-delivery-service-with-safety-drivers-2021-12-01/
https://ngtnews.com/uber-utilizes-nuro-evs-for-autonomous-food-deliveries-in-california-and-texas
https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2022/09/08/driverless-food-deliveries-grow-uber-eats-launching-in-calif-texas-this-fall/
https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2022/03/17/americans-cautious-about-the-deployment-of-driverless-cars/