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Lyft can now test self-driving cars in California

I wouldn't count on one picking you up next week, but it's still a big step forward.

Andrew Krok Reviews Editor / Cars
Cars are Andrew's jam, as is strawberry. After spending years as a regular ol' car fanatic, he started working his way through the echelons of the automotive industry, starting out as social-media director of a small European-focused garage outside of Chicago. From there, he moved to the editorial side, penning several written features in Total 911 Magazine before becoming a full-time auto writer, first for a local Chicago outlet and then for CNET Cars.
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Andrew Krok
Lyft

Lyft is one key step closer to testing autonomous vehicles on California roads.

Lyft has been granted a permit from the state of California to test autonomous vehicles on public roads, Reuters reports, citing the California Department of Motor Vehicles website, which tracks the companies that have received the permit. To date, 45 companies including Lyft have received the permit.

The ride-hailing giant joins a number of other big names in this space. Several automakers have already received the permit, including , General Motors and . There are also a bunch of suppliers testing their platforms, including Waymo,  Uber  and  Apple .

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Even though the car may be capable of driving itself, there will still be a safety driver up front, just in case.

 Drive.ai

But Lyft won't be going it alone. The company announced in September that it would team up with startup Drive.ai to deploy an autonomous solution. Drive.ai already has its permit, and while there is no specific timeline for when a self-driving Lyft may arrive at your door, its pilot program should kick off in the near future.

Lyft might be late to the game compared to its biggest competitor, Uber, but the company is still forging some important partnerships as it seeks to catch up. Lyft has announced just a handful of partnerships in the self-driving space, but they're big ones. Like, General Motors and Waymo big.