Waymo, the Alphabet-owned self-driving car company, has announced its plans to start testing fully driverless vehicles on Phoenix’s freeways. This marks a significant shift in their strategy, as self-driving cars usually avoid highways and prefer to stick to local roads.
Initially, Waymo will offer driverless rides exclusively to its employees and their friends. However, the company has stated that it also intends to allow paying passengers who use the Waymo One ridehailing app to travel on the freeway if their trip requires it. This move comes in response to customer feedback, as many have expressed frustration over longer travel times caused by self-driving cars avoiding highways.
Critics of autonomous vehicles have often pointed to this avoidance of highways as evidence of their inadequate readiness for real-world driving situations. However, self-driving truck companies have been testing their vehicles primarily on highways, albeit with human safety drivers present. Waymo itself has previously tested its autonomous trucks on Texas highways but has recently shifted its focus to passenger trips.
As Waymo increases the number of miles driven on highways, it plans to collect valuable data and feedback from its employees, who will be the first to experience freeway travel in driverless vehicles. The company aims to use this information to provide faster routes, particularly for customers traveling to Phoenix’s airports. Airport trips are known to be a significant revenue source for ridehailing services.
In conclusion, Waymo’s decision to test driverless vehicles on freeways marks an important milestone in its autonomous driving program. By tackling higher speeds on highways, the company aims to improve the efficiency of its services and meet customer demands for faster travel times.
The source of the article is from the blog regiozottegem.be