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Robotaxis can be hailed in the Lyft ( LYFT ) app

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Toyota Sienna minivans retrofitted by May Mobility

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May Mobility manages fleet, not Lyft's ( LYFT ) Flexdrive unit

By Akash Sriram

Sept 10 (Reuters) -

Ride-hailing app Lyft ( LYFT ) and autonomous vehicle

startup May Mobility will launch a pilot robotaxi service in

Atlanta starting from Wednesday, the companies said, marking the

partnership's first public deployment.

Customers using the standard Lyft ( LYFT ) app will be able to hail

Toyota Sienna minivans retrofitted by May Mobility on routes in

and around Midtown Atlanta, with fares comparable to regular

rides.

The companies will start with a small fleet, with trained

in-vehicle operators on board to answer questions and take

control if needed.

The rollout underscores Lyft's ( LYFT ) efforts to integrate

self-driving rides into its app through partners, such as Baidu

in Europe and Mobileye, even as robotaxi firms race to clear

regulatory hurdles and prove they can operate safely and

profitably at scale.

"We'll start in the single digits of cars, move up to

dozens, and over time to hundreds and thousands," Jeremy Bird,

Lyft's ( LYFT ) executive vice president of driver experience told

Reuters. Neither Bird nor May Mobility CEO Edwin Olson gave a

timeline for expansion.

Olson said the vehicles feature a redundant drive-by-wire

system and a 360-degree sensor suite combining lidar, radar and

cameras.

The service will be integrated into Lyft's ( LYFT ) hybrid

marketplace, allowing riders to choose an autonomous trip or a

conventional ride.

The Atlanta pilot will be managed by May Mobility and not

Lyft's ( LYFT ) fleet-operations backbone, Flexdrive.

Last month, Lyft ( LYFT ) convened an AV Driver Forum in Atlanta to

brief drivers on the rollout, and both companies said they have

engaged with local and state officials.

Among the competition, Alphabet-owned Waymo has expanded

paid autonomous services in major U.S. cities, Uber has

partnered with tech firms to deploy self-driving taxis globally,

and Tesla launched its first robotaxi service in Austin, Texas,

and a ride-hailing service in the Bay Area earlier this year.