Is this the week that London becomes a fully plugged-in and autonomous future city? Is our capital, founded by the Romans, designed by Wren and Nash, Foster and Rogers, mechanised by the Victorians, finally having its sci-fi moment — driverless cabs on the streets, just like the robot-piloted “Johnny Cabs” in Arnie’s Total Recall movie, and flying drone taxis, like the airborne “Metrokabs” ridden by Rick Deckard in Blade Runner, strafing the London skyline?
In Westminster, Uber has been offering preview test fares in its fleet of autonomous, AI-equipped Wayve robotaxis. Despite Uber’s TfL-granted private-hire licences still requiring a qualified driver to be present on each journey and remain responsible for the car at all times, customer interest is sky-high — more than 100,000 London residents have already signed up for the Uber Wayve waiting list.
