Despite its troubles in developing self-driving cars, Uber Technologies Inc. is hiring engineers to bring autonomous vehicle technology to bicycles and electric scooters.

The announcement, made by Uber at a DIYRobocars event on Sunday, sees the company hiring “Micromobility” engineers to develop “autonomous scooters and bikes that can drive themselves to charging or better locations.”

According to The Telegraph, the self-driving bikes and scooters would not only be able to drive themselves to charging points but also park themselves, reducing the need for human intervention.

Uber and competitors including Lyft Inc., BirdBike Inc. and others hire contractors to collect, charge and repair the scooters and bicycles when they require maintenance.

Like with ride-hailing vehicles, where the development of autonomous vehicles would remove the cost of having to pay a human driver, self-driving bikes and scooters would reduce the need to hire contractors, therefore reducing costs and increasing profit margins.

Exciting announcement from @UberATG at today's @DIYRobocars event. "Micromobility" = autononomous scooters & bikes that can drive themselves to charging or better locations. Hiring now pic.twitter.com/sOjroo8XZI

— Chris Anderson (@chr1sa) January 20, 2019

Exactly what technology would be deployed is somewhat of a mystery. In an online job advertisement, Uber said the aim is to “improve safety, rider experience and operational efficiency of our shared electric scooters and bicycles through the application of sensing and robotics technologies.”

Uber entered the bike-sharing market through its acquisition of Jump Bikes Inc. in April, leveraging the company to subsequently launch into the e-scooter sharing market as well. The company now operates bike-sharing services in 16 cities but e-scooters in only seven, the latter restricted by local regulations such as those in San Francisco.

Both the e-scooter and bike-sharing markets have become a proxy war in the larger ride-hailing market as various companies attempt to dominate the so-called “last-mile” of transportation.

Uber may be looking at bringing new technology into the market, but its immediate expansion plans may still be linked to an acquisition. In December it was reported that Uber was holding talks about possible acquisitions of Bird and LimeBikes Inc., two of the largest startups in the market. Uber is also an investor in Lime alongside Alphabet Inc.

Photo: paulwasneski/Flickr