New York Uber Drivers Believe Self Driving Cars Won't Replace Them

Uber drivers in New York City have expressed confidence that the emergence of self driving cars will not make them lose their jobs.

Drivers hanging out at the cabbie lot at the LaGuardia Airport on Tuesday say that having self driving cars going around New York City is not exactly ideal. "I don't think driverless cars will get them there on time," cab driver Mohammad Mashriqi, 26, said in an interview with the New York Daily News. "In New York, everybody is in a rush."

Another driver, 44-year-old Cruz Lopez, expressed his disappointment towards Uber as it has chosen to move forward with having cars without any drivers. He says he feels it's "not nice" that ride sharing company is planning to "take the work from people" in contrast to what it had promised of providing more work to them. "There is no better service than human service, baby!" he said. "We talk to people; we help people out."

However, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick has expressed that despite the steadfast development of self driving cars, which are expected to be completed by the year 2021, he's not yet entirely ready to let go of human services completely.

Kalanick shared a description about how he sees the future with self driving cars, with around 50,000 to 100,000 people driving Uber cars around the California Bay Area. "So I don't think the number of human drivers will go down anytime soon," he said in an interview with Business Insider.

Independent Drivers Guild founder Jim Conigliaro Jr. has assured that the group will combat any attempt to change laws in the state of New York that would give way for self driving cars. He explains that Uber has earned significant amount of money thanks to their drivers, and therefore will focus on giving these drivers the proper benefits and compensation they feel that these drivers deserve.