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Autonomous rides
London, meet your future ride
Freenow by Lyft is bringing autonomous vehicles to the capital.
Same city, same app – a new way to move
Our autonomous vehicles are out on London's streets right now, learning every turn and traffic pattern. Download our app today and you could be among the first to ride when we launch next year.
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It starts here
We're testing in London
Throughout 2026, we'll have autonomous vehicles out on the streets, getting to know the city. They're learning all the little quirks that make London unique, with one simple goal: making every journey safer and smoother from day one.
Every vehicle carries a powerful suite of sensors – purpose-built for complex city streets, with 360-degree detection day or night, rain or shine.
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Partnered with one of the best
Millions of miles of experience, coming to London
We've partnered with Baidu's Apollo Go, one of the global leaders in autonomous driving. For over a decade they've been perfecting autonomous driving technology in some of the world's most demanding cities.
Apollo Go's global footprint spans 27 cities – having accumulated over 200 million autonomous miles.
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Our vision
Human drivers and autonomous technology, moving together
Since 2009, Freenow has been part of how Europe moves. Now we're building something bigger: a hybrid network where you can choose between the expertise of a driver and the precision of autonomous driving technology, to make city travel safer, smarter and more reliable for everyone.
Be part of what's next
Follow our journey in London, pushing the technology forward and helping build the future of city travel.
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Frequently asked questions
Everything you want to know
What is an autonomous vehicle?
An autonomous vehicle, or AV, can navigate roads and traffic without a human at the wheel. The Baidu Apollo autonomous vehicles we work with use cameras, radar and LiDAR sensors to build a real-time picture of its surroundings and make safe, confident driving decisions. Think of it as an attentive, experienced driver that can't get tired or distracted.
When and where will you be driving?
Throughout 2026 our vehicles are in London. We're starting out in Brent and Wembley, and expanding when we're ready to grow our service.
All our autonomous vehicles on the road have a trained operator on board. Following that we'll be testing without a driver, making sure our vehicles can handle London's roads before the public ever steps in.
Why are you in my neighbourhood?
To build a truly safe and reliable service, our vehicles need to learn London properly, including quieter streets and residential areas. If you see our cars in your area, this is what's happening. This mapping phase is taking place in stages, to ensure a better service when rides are open to the public.
When can I take a ride?
We're planning to open public autonomous rides in 2027. Download Freenow and you could be among the first to ride when bookings open.
Will there be a person in the vehicle?
During our initial testing phase, professional safety operators will be on board to monitor the technology. Over time, we'll remove safety operators for a final phase of testing. Then, only once safety validation is complete, will we launch public rides.
What kind of experience do your safety operators have?
Our safety operators are trained professionals with backgrounds in advanced driving and vehicle safety.
They are deployed during initial testing phases to rigorously monitor the technology, paving the way for our transition to fully driverless operations where safety remains managed through multi-layered redundancies and remote oversight.
Are you filming what's around the vehicle?
Our vehicles use sensors and cameras to navigate safely, which means they do record video data during trips. We store this footage securely, anonymise it before use and use it solely to improve safety technology. Your personal data won't be used to train the technology – always in full compliance with UK data protection laws and TfL regulations. For more details on how we process data, please see the AV Privacy Notice.
Is this safe?
Safety is the foundation everything else is built on. Our vehicles won't carry passengers until we've completed our rigorous testing phases – so we're sure they can handle London's roads.
Still have questions?
Get in touch at privacy-av-eu@lyft.com.