Lyft Customers Have Taken More Than 50,000 Rides In Self-Driving Cars

In May 2018, Aptiv launched more than two dozen self-driving cars in Las Vegas where they operate on the Lyft network. By August 2018, according to the ridesharing company, more than 5,000 self-driving rides had taken place through its app, a number it has greatly exceeded in the months since. In an announcement on Friday, Lyft said that it has provided more than 50,000 self-driving rides to the public.

It seems inevitable that one day all on-demand rides will be take place in self-driving vehicles. Uber has heavily invested in its own self-driving efforts, but competitor Lyft has taken a different approach in working with autonomous car company Aptiv. The two introduced self-driving car rides to customers in Las Vegas last year, and now the ridesharing service is back with an update.

According to an announcement from Lyft, the company's app has been used by customers to take more than 50,000 rides in self-driving vehicles since the autonomous option's launch last year. The company has shared some figures related to the rides, including an average rating from customers of 4.97 out of 5 stars.

In addition, Lyft says that 92-percent of these customers reported feeling either 'very' or 'extremely' safe during the rides provided by autonomous vehicles, and that for 95-percent of the customers, that was their first time ever riding in a self-driving car. As well, one unnamed rider has received the distinct recognition of having taken 14 self-driving rides in Las Vegas.

According to Lyft, its service with Aptiv is the single largest commercial self-driving program currently underway in the United States. Lyft's self-driving ride option is available in the platform's mobile app, but is limited to the Las Vegas region at this time.