Pioneer of self-driving cars Waymo announced this week that its robotaxis will be able to carry passengers across most of the Phoenix area for the first time.
The company’s cars will also start gathering more volunteers to test the autonomous vehicles going through the toughest conditions in San Francisco.
The expansion marks the next stage in an ambitious journey to create a safer and more cost-effective alternative to human-dependent ride-hailing services.
The increase in territory in the Phoenix area means Waymo’s robotaxis will now pick up and drop off paying passengers in an area that spans 180 square miles (466 square kilometers), doubling in size since late last year. Waymo’s robotaxis now cover four times as much territory as when they first started providing rides to paying passengers in the Phoenix area in late 2020.
“We are feeling a tremendous wind behind us,” Waymo chief product officer Saswat Panigrahi said in a briefing with reporters.
Waymo, which began as a secret project within Google more than a decade ago, now hopes to bring that momentum to San Francisco, one of the most densely populated cities in the United States, also renowned for its hilly streets and the frequent fog it can flummox driverless vehicles.
Although Waymo has experienced issues with both San Francisco weather and unexpected stops which blocked trafficis continuing to test its robotaxis throughout the city at any time of day by providing free rides to its employees and volunteers selected from a waiting list to test the service.
“There are clearly additional learnings that we are responding to,” Panigrahi said of the various issues Waymo encountered in San Francisco.
The Mountain View, Calif.-based company is seeking approval from California regulators so its robotaxis can start charging fares for rides — something Cruise, a rival driverless service owned by General Motorsit has been doing this since last June, but only in parts of San Francisco during the night hours.
Cruise also recently began offering free rides through most of San Francisco around the clock to volunteer passengers until state regulators approve its request to collect fees for service anywhere in the city.
If and when Waymo and Cruise get regulatory approval, San Francisco will become the first US city with two commercial robotaxi services competing with ride-hailing pioneers Super and Liftas well as traditional taxis with people behind the wheel.
As part of Thursday’s announcement, Waymo said its robotaxis provide an average of 10,000 rides a week with no humans inside the vehicles other than passengers. Panigrahi said he expects Waymo’s robotaxi fleet to provide 100,000 rides weekly by the summer of 2024.
—————————————————-
Source link