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A partnership between the University of Arizona's College of Optical Sciences and ride-sharing app company Uber could bring self-driving cars one step closer to reality.
Uber will work with the college to develop lenses and sensors to help vehicles navigate. Included in that partnership is a likelihood that self-driving cars will be tested in the Tucson area.
The company will make a $25,000 donation to the college.
Gov. Doug Ducey speaking at the signing of the deal between the UA College of Optical Sciences and tech company Uber.
To help facilitate those tests, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey signed an executive order Tuesday that will allow testing of the technology around the state. He said the order does not clear the way for self-driving cars to be used outside of testing.
“Uber was really looking for a state that would cooperate, that was business friendly, that saw the value of its services, and would work with, not only the university’s assets, but the state assets to put together a framework where this test could be conducted,” Ducey said.
Uber Vice President Brian McClendon said the company doesn’t have a time frame for when its self-driving cars will hit the road. Uber's human-operated vehicles that map streets will be driving around Tucson starting in September.
The company opened an office in downtown Phoenix in June, and Ducey's office said it will employ several hundred people.
Ducey and officials of Uber and UA made no mention of job creation or direct economic impact from the UA-Uber partnership.
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