Why fleet management skills are vital for autonomous vehicles
A new strategic partnership between Avis Budget Group and Waymo, the operator of autonomous ride hailing fleets across the US, reveals a future direction for mobility around the world.
The international rental company will provide fleet support to Waymo in Dallas from 2026, delivering services including infrastructure, vehicle readiness, maintenance, and depot operations.
Avis Budget Group has been open about its ambitions to monetise its core strengths in large scale fleet management, with the aim of expanding its business beyond travel.
Brian Choi, Chief Executive Officer of Avis Budget Group, said: “Our partnership with Waymo marks a pivotal milestone in our evolution, from a rental car company to a leading provider of fleet management, infrastructure and operations to the broader mobility ecosystem.”
The group also owns Zipcar, the global car sharing network.
In Dallas, Waymo will deliver its ride-hailing service directly to customers via the Waymo app, and the two companies intend to expand their partnership to other cities in the near future.
Autonomous fleets
Waymo already operates self-driving fleets of electric Jaguar I-Pace cars in San Francisco, Phoenix, and Los Angeles, and now delivers over 250,000 paid trips every week. It has plans to open in Miami, Washington D.C. and Dallas.
Waymo has adopted a different approach in Austin and Atlanta, where Uber manages and dispatches a fleet of self-driving Waymo Jaguar cars that customers hail via the Uber app. Uber also provides vehicle cleaning, repair, and other general depot operations, while Waymo is responsible for the autonomous technology as well as roadside assistance and certain rider support functions.
Centrally operated fleets, rather than privately owned cars, are the best way to bring autonomous vehicles into operation, according to Sascha Meyer, CEO of Moia, the Volkswagen tech subsidiary that develops on-demand ride-pooling services.
“You need professionals to keep the car clean and the sensors calibrated to run a safe driving system,” he said. “There still needs to be a huge amount of operational control in the background and support for the vehicles in situations where the system is uncertain of the right thing to do. In the five- to ten-year timeline, I don’t think that the systems will have evolved to the point where customers will be able to take over service and management.”
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