Ford will launch an autonomous car fleet with Lyft and Argo AI by the tip of the yr, the companies launched Wednesday.

Self-driving rides with safety drivers will begin this yr in Miami. The companies talked about they plan to develop to Austin, Texas, in 2022 and roll out about 1,000 self-driving autos in numerous markets inside 5 years.

The partnership comes as ride-hailing companies Uber and Lyft ditch their very personal in-house packages and instead look to outdoor companions for self-driving experience. Lyft announced plans in April to sell its autonomous car unit to a subsidiary of Toyota for $550 million. In December, Uber sold its self-driving unit to start-up Aurora — which is backed by Hyundai and Amazon — amid safety concerns and extreme costs.

“Each agency brings the scale, knowledge and performance of their area of expertise that is important to make autonomous ride-hailing a enterprise actuality,” talked about Lyft co-founder and CEO Logan Inexperienced.

As part of the settlement, Lyft will get hold of 2.5% frequent equity of Argo AI, the Ford and Volkswagen-backed autonomous car start-up that’s reportedly preparing to go public as shortly as this yr.

The race to deploy self-driving cars is heating up nationwide. General Motors CEO Mary Barra said during the company’s first-quarter earnings identify that she expects to produce clients autonomous cars this decade. Volkswagen is planning a self-driving microbus with Argo AI by 2025, whereas Ford said in February it plans to invest $29 billion in autonomous and electrical cars by means of 2025.

Ford and Argo AI have been testing fleets nationwide in Austin; Detroit; Miami; Palo Alto, California; Pittsburgh; and Washington, D.C.