Europe's First Driverless Taxis Hit the Streets in Zagreb

You can now hail a taxi in Zagreb, Croatia, climb into the back seat, and watch the steering wheel turn itself while nobody sits up front.

Europe's first fully driverless taxi service launched in September, letting select riders experience what hundreds of thousands of people in a few U.S. cities already know: the strange thrill of trusting a computer with your commute. Uber partnered with Croatian startup Verne and Chinese AI firm Pony.ai to bring autonomous vehicles to European streets for the first time as a real service, not just a test.

The journey started in April when the partners launched robotaxis with human safety operators behind the wheel. Those cars drove over 200,000 kilometers around Zagreb, learning the city's streets and building confidence. Now the training wheels are off. Fully driverless rides began September 10 on a 22-kilometer route connecting Verne's headquarters to Zagreb Airport.

Ordering the autonomous ride works exactly like requesting any other Uber. Riders choose between a human driver or AI when booking, unlock the car with their phone, and settle in for what one Uber executive calls "magically boring." The steering wheel spins on its own, the car stops completely at every stop sign, and it politely pulls over when aggressive human drivers try to pass.

About 30 electric SUVs currently serve Zagreb, returning each night to a central hub for cleaning and charging. The front passenger seat has been removed to make room for luggage, and riders have full access to Uber support during the trip.

The Ripple Effect

Zagreb became the perfect testing ground because it's home to Rimac, the electric hypercar maker whose founder Mate Rimac launched Verne specifically to create autonomous taxis. His local expertise combined with Pony.ai's AI technology and Uber's platform created an unusual but effective partnership across three continents with very different approaches to autonomous vehicles.

The model is already spreading. Testing has begun in Manchester, with London next in line and more than 30 European partnerships in Uber's pipeline. What works in Zagreb can scale across the continent, bringing driverless rides to cities that have watched American and Chinese experiments from the sidelines.

The technology runs at "level 4," meaning the car drives itself without human help but only in controlled areas. No company anywhere has achieved level 5, which would allow unrestricted road access. But for riders on that airport route in Zagreb, watching the wheel turn itself past oncoming traffic, the future already arrived.

After the initial shock wears off, passengers report forgetting the car is driving itself at all.