Driverless car-hailing service launched in Milton Keynes
A new on-demand car-hailing service using remote-controlled driverless vehicles has been launched in Milton Keynes by UK start-up Imperium Drive.
The world’s first commercial service dubbed Fetch is launching as a paying service in Milton Keynes before being rolled out across the country, to connect with other urban areas and transport interchanges.
Customers can hire a car through the Fetch app, stating when they need it and for how long. A remotely controlled electric vehicle is then delivered to them. The customer then drives the car to their destination and when the rental period is up, the remote vehicle operator takes over and pilots the car back to base or to the next user.
“It's driverless but not autonomous - yet,” Koosha Kaveh, chief executive of Imperium Drive said in a statement. “There's still a human involved, but they're sitting in a control centre piloting the vehicle in the same way you would a drone. When fully autonomous, we think this system has the potential to replace private car ownership in the UK.”
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