Are Google working on a free driverless taxi service?

Google has been really open about the fact that it has been working on self-driving car technology for the last five years or so. But the one thing they haven’t been quite so clear about is why they’ve been developing the technology.

According to one venture capitalist, the tech giant could be working towards launching autonomous taxis that passengers can use for free. Steve Jurveston’s sources are unclear but he told Bloomberg that Google could be going up against the likes of Uber and Lyft with their app that would mean passengers no longer need to pay for their journeys.

"Google may very well beat them at their own game because they can get down to zero," he said. "They can take zero cut and offer a free app, which they are considering launching called Free Ride, so this game could get very interesting."

When asked to explain more, he continued: “They are considering it. They’re debating it. They’re on the fence as to whether they should offer it. But the go to market would be offer the free app, get people used to it while there are still human drivers, and then flip them over to the Google autonomous cars.”

Read: How self-driving cars could lead to fewer vehicles on the road

Google has not commented on Jurveston's claims, but back in February they replied to another story claiming that they were going up against Uber and Lyft, tweeting: "We think you’ll find Uber and Lyft work quite well. We use them all the time."

But the idea of autonomous taxis is not be as farfetched as you might think. Research from Berkley Lab found that they would be both cost-effective and would greatly reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.

Researchers found that the per-mile greenhouse gas emissions of an electric self-driving vehicle in 2030 would be 63 to 82 per cent lower than a projected 2030 hybried vehicle driven as a privately owned car and 90 per cent lower than a 2014 gas-powered vehicle.

Almost half of that saving comes from the fact that autonomous taxis would allow people to use an appropriately sized vehicle for their trip. For instance, one person travelling without luggage would not need a car as big as four people travelling with luggage. As most taxi journeys tend to be solo trips, if the right sized vehicle was deployed, it would lead to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions as it would mean fewer large vehicles on the road.

This study did not try to predict how widespread autonomous vehicle technology would be by 2030. But they did calculate that is five per cent of 2030 vehicle sales changed to self-driving tacis ti would save seven million barrels of oil per year and reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions by between 2.1 million and 2.4 million metric tons of carbon dioxide each year. That’s equal to emissions savings for more than 1,000 two-megawatt wind turbines.

So whether Google is developing free autonomous taxis or not, there’s one thing that’s almost certain: taxi drivers’ days are numbered.