Waymo, the autonomous vehicle company owned by Alphabet, is taking a significant step forward by sending its fully driverless cars onto freeways for the first time. This move signals a major expansion of Waymo’s driverless car program, which has already been offering robotaxi rides to enrolled users in Phoenix and San Francisco. However, the initial freeway rides will be limited to Waymo employees in Phoenix.
Waymo assures that it is well-prepared for these fully driverless highway rides, drawing on its years of experience operating rider-only vehicles on public roads in California and Arizona, as well as its millions of miles of experience with autonomous trucks and cars on freeways. The company plans to assess the safety and comfort of the freeway service during this initial phase, and if successful, regular Waymo One riders will soon be able to book freeway rides through the app.
The ability to utilize freeways is crucial for Waymo as it scales its operations to other cities. By avoiding the slower city streets, trip times could potentially be reduced by 50%, making journeys faster and more efficient for users.
Previously, Waymo’s cars had a human engineer behind the wheel to monitor operations and take control if necessary. However, Waymo later received a permit allowing its cars to travel without a driver. While the company has been testing its cars on freeways with someone in the driver’s seat, it is now ready to embrace fully driverless operations.
Considering the public and regulatory scrutiny that autonomous vehicles face, Waymo’s move onto freeways will be closely observed. This comes in the wake of a serious incident involving a driverless car from Waymo’s competitor, Cruise, in San Francisco. Following the incident, Cruise had its permit revoked and withdrew its vehicles from public roads, resulting in major changes within the company.
Nevertheless, Waymo remains committed to advancing its technology and is expected to resume testing sometime this year. With its foray onto freeways, Waymo aims to revolutionize transportation by offering a safer, more efficient, and fully driverless experience to its riders.
The source of the article is from the blog mgz.com.tw