Lyft will test its autonomous cars in a former military base
It's now a step closer towards testing its autonomous technology on public roads.
In July 2017, Lyft announced that it's joining the autonomous vehicle race and even opened a dedicated research facility in Palo Alto. Now, it's already preparing to put its technology to the test: the ride-hailing firm plans to test its self-driving cars at Gomentum Station in California. It's a 5,000-acre autonomous vehicle proving grounds, which used to be the Concord Naval Weapons Station military base. Testing vehicles at the proving grounds will bring Lyft closer to unleashing its vehicles on public roads -- something it has to do before it can officially release a self-driving fleet.
It's unclear when trials will begin, but the vehicles it's putting to the test at Gomentum Station will come straight from its Level 5 Engineering Center in Palo Alto. Lyft's self-driving tactic involves teaming up with various automakers and tech giants. Level 5's engineers, hardware and software developers are working with companies like General Motors, Land Rover, Jaguar and Waymo under Lyft's Open Platform Initiative in order to develop the ride-hailing firm's technology.
Lyft will probably test familiar cars loaded with its self-driving tech at the Station -- we'll know for sure once the company reveals more info about this particular project in the future. "By partnering with GoMentum Station," said Lyft's VP of Engineering Luc Vincent, "we're able to test our self-driving systems in a secure facility and advance our technology in an efficient way."
