The demise of the minicab driver

It appears that self-driving cars could be on our streets in just a few years from now, and it is reported also that Google is developing plans for a driverless minicab service.  The implications appear considerable.

I can think of four reasons why driverless minicabs might be preferable to traditional ones.

With no need to pay a driver’s wages, a driverless minicab would presumably be less expensive.

There have been numerous instances over the years of women travelling alone being raped by minicab drivers.  A driverless cab would therefore appear as the safer option to many women.

A driverless minicab could be available at any time of the day or night, and on any day of the year.  Have you ever tried booking a minicab on Christmas day?

There is no obvious reason why a driverless minicab would be more expensive to hire on public holidays than on any other day of the year.

In short, there is good reason to believe that the days of the minicab driver are numbered.  A simple search on the internet indicates that there are in the region of 298,000 cab drivers in the whole of the United Kingdom, and so we are potentially looking at 298,000 people losing their livelihoods – or at least having to change their occupation.

If the price of your minicab journey decreases, then you are left with more money to spend on something else.  It is how you choose to spend that money which will determine what happens to the people currently working as minicab drivers.

Update: since writing this, I have become aware that driverless buses are being trialled in various cities, such as Paris.  Buses are not like minicabs, however.

Driverless buses would need either to operate free of charge or else have some mechanism to ensure that every passenger either pays a fare or else is exempt from paying a fare (for example a small child).  Also, many passengers might not feel as safe on a driverless bus as they would on a bus with a driver.

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