Alphabet's Waymo just launched self-driving robo-taxis: Details here
What's the story
Waymo, the Alphabet-owned unit working on self-driving cars, has launched fully driverless robo-taxis in the Phoenix city of the United States. The service had been available to a select group of people. But, now, the general public living in the region will have an opportunity to book a taxi capable of driving around on its own. Here is more about it.
Work
Waymo entered Phoenix in 2017, has been developing since
Since 2017, Waymo has been testing and developing its 'Waymo Driver' self-driving technology in the Metro Phoenix area of Arizona. The system has been live with a group of select early riders as part of a beta test program and has "pioneered fully driverless, paid rides on high-speed roads across a service area larger than the city of San Francisco."
Waymo One
Waymo One service also launched
Now, even though Waymo has advanced its technology enough to enable autonomous rides, access to fully driverless cars (5-10% of the fleet) had been kept restricted only to vetted early riders. Some vehicles were opened to the public through a ride-hailing service called Waymo One, but it was not a truly driverless experience as there was an operator monitoring the ride all the time.
Information
Waymo One was also a limited service
Moreover, Waymo One was also limited in nature. As per The Verge, the only customers who got access through it were people who had first been vetted for Waymo's early rider program.
Change
Now, Waymo One will allow fully driverless rides
To change this strategy and give more people in the city access to autonomous robo-taxis, Waymo has announced that it will be opening up its fully driverless cars to all customers of the Waymo One ride-hailing service. Initially, it would offer access to existing Waymo One customers, and then, over the next several weeks, more people will be called to join Waymo One.
Choice
Friends, family would be allowed
More importantly, Waymo One members will also have the option to bring their friends and family members along on the fully driverless ride. "Members of the public service can now take friends and family along on their rides and share their experience with the world," Waymo CEO John Krafcik said, noting that they would welcome "more people directly into the service through our app."
Quote
100% of our rides will be fully driverless, Krafcik added
"In the near term, 100% of our rides will be fully driverless. We expect our new fully driverless service to be very popular, and we're thankful to our riders for their patience as we ramp up availability to serve demand."
Focus
Rides with operators will also be re-introduced
In addition to scaling up the presence of fully driverless cars in Phoenix, Waymo will also be re-introducing rides with trained operators as part of an effort to add capacity and allow them to serve a larger geographical area. Plus, it is working to add in-vehicle barriers between the front row and the rear passenger cabin for maintaining the highest hygiene and safety standards.