Opinion: Basic economics means Uber and Lyft can’t rely on driverless cars to become profitable
With Uber and Lyft both announcing large quarterly losses last week, it’s clear they have a long way to go to reach profitability, and analysts are increasingly focused on the long-term viability of the industry. One potential pathway is the advent and utilization of autonomous vehicles (AVs), which could reduce the single largest expense incurred by the ride-hailing networks: compensation to human drivers. However, just adding AVs to lower costs won’t be a silver bullet.