Uber Begins Testing Self-Driving Cars in Pittsburgh

Uber Technologies Inc. has begun tests on the streets of Pittsburgh of Ford Fusion small sedans equipped to drive themselves.

Two of the cars will be available for regular customers of the ride-hailing service. Like all vehicles in the test fleet, the cars will have a human driver on board to take control if needed. Uber hopes to eventually replace many of its 1.5 million drivers with robotic technology.

The test cars are equipped with 3D cameras, laser sensors (lidar) and global positioning systems that monitor the vehicles’ whereabouts. The Pittsburgh test is an especially difficult one for the technology because the cars will operate in an urban environment and in a climate with four clearly defined seasons. Uber, citing terminology used to rate ski slopes, has described the tests as the “double black diamond” challenge for automated driving.

The test program is closely supported by the Advanced Technologies Center that Uber opened in Pittsburgh last year. The facility’s staff consists primarily of researchers and faculty members hired away from the city’s Carnegie Mellon University.