15,000 Black Cabs, 105,000 Drivers: Could Self-Driving Cars Wipe Out London's Taxi Trade?

Wayve, Waymo, and Baidu are trialling robotaxis in London, though the cars still have safety drivers and charge no fares yet. (Credit: Google Gemini generated image)

Self-driving taxis have begun carrying paying passengers on the streets of London, putting a question mark over the future of a trade that supports nearly 15,000 black cab drivers and around 105,000 private-hire drivers, according to figures cited by the Financial Times.

The first of those services went live on 3 September, when Wayve, a British artificial intelligence firm, switched on autonomous rides through Uber's app using a small fleet of all-electric Ford Mustang Mach-E cars. The vehicles are supervised for now, with a Transport for London-licensed safety driver behind the wheel and able to take over, and Reuters reported that fewer than 20 were running at launch.