The next time you hail an Uber in the Valley, you just might get picked up by an autonomous car.
Uber brought the project to Arizona in December 2016 after the autonomous vehicles were banned from California roads due to safety concerns.
Uber spokesperson Taylor Patterson says part of the reason the company is expanding its footprint in Arizona is because of the favorable political and regulatory climate.
“Governor Ducey’s administration has been particularly supportive of the sharing economy, the advancement of innovation and technology in this state," Patterson said. "I think that we felt this was the right place to bring our next round of cars.”
Uber won’t specify the exact number of vehicles but says it’s a small fleet, and they’ll be randomly deployed throughout Tempe.
There will be Uber employees along for the ride. Project managers are gathering more information on things like traffic patterns and bike lanes.
