Google’s plan to take on Uber with its own ride-sharing service will be moving into full swing this coming year, according to a source close to the tech giant’s endeavor. It is expected that the new stand-alone app will be connected to Google’s driverless cars. Industry watchers are also forecasting that the company’s self-driving car enterprise will be spun off into a separate company under the Alphabet banner sometime in 2016.
According to Fortune, the anonymous source, speaking with Bloomberg, revealed that the initial rollout of the ride-hailing service would likely take place in San Francisco and in Austin, Texas, the two cities where Google’s driverless cars have driven most of their estimated 1 million miles logged on public roads to date.
Another sign of Google ramping up its push to bring its self-driving car business and ride-sharing app to market was its hiring away of self-driving car expert Robert Rose from Tesla in November of 2015.