Uber and Pony AI Begin Robotaxi Testing in Manchester, Expanding Beyond London

Uber and autonomous driving company Pony AI have started testing self-driving ride-hailing vehicles in Manchester, marking the first UK robotaxi trial announced for a city outside London. The move positions Manchester as an early testbed for autonomous mobility in the country and signals growing ambitions to bring driverless ride-hailing beyond the capital.

The announcement comes as Uber continues to build out its autonomous vehicle partnerships globally. Rather than developing its own self-driving technology in-house, the company has been pairing its ride-hailing network with third-party autonomy specialists, a strategy that lets it move quickly into new markets without bearing the full cost of building a robotaxi stack from scratch. Pony AI, which has been active in autonomous driving development, brings the vehicle technology to the table while Uber provides the demand platform and operational infrastructure.

Manchester’s selection is notable because the UK’s autonomous vehicle testing has largely been concentrated in London to date. Expanding trials to a northern English city suggests that operators are beginning to look at a wider range of urban environments, with their own road layouts, traffic patterns and weather conditions. The testing phase will be closely watched by regulators, city officials and competitors alike, as it could shape how quickly robotaxi services scale across the UK.

The timing also fits into a broader European push toward autonomous ride-hailing. Several companies have launched or announced pilot programs across the continent, and the UK government has been working on a legal framework to support the safe deployment of self-driving vehicles on public roads. For passengers, the practical questions — when rides will be fully driverless, how they will be priced, and how the service will be regulated — remain open, but the Manchester trial represents a concrete step toward answering them.

Neither company has disclosed a full timeline for when the Manchester testing might evolve into a commercial service open to the public. For now, the focus is on validating the technology on local streets and gathering the operational data needed to move forward.