Waymo, the Alphabet-owned robotaxi company, plans to begin testing self-driving cars on Bay Area highways this week. Self-driving cars will be driven on highways, with company employees serving as testers.
Waymo’s communications manager Sandy Karp told Gizmodo that the company has been “safely and incrementally” expanding its presence in highway travel and that the new rollout will ultimately help “Waymo One riders safely and efficiently travel across our highways.” destination”. Expanding service areas. “Choosing highways over surface streets in San Francisco” can “significantly enhance the passenger experience” by shortening travel times, Karp said. She added, “The ability to leverage freeways will be especially important as we expand into other cities such as Los Angeles and Austin.”
Karp also noted that the company will “follow the same processes outlined in our safety framework and build on its safe and proven experience operating a fleet of passenger-only vehicles on public roads in California and Arizona over many years and millions of miles.” Based on experience. Karp said the cars will “obey the speed limit (65 mph).”
As early as March, California approved Waymo to test vehicles on San Francisco highways. That same month, the company began testing its self-driving cars on highways in Phoenix, Arizona, where the cars are more widely embedded in local communities. The company claims the cars can navigate between lanes and even use on-ramps and exits without the help of a human driver.
If this looks like a disaster, nothing has happened yet—at least not yet. However, the automation process of the shared travel industry is not smooth sailing. Self-driving cars have had their ups and downs since robotaxis invaded the Bay Area last year. They were attacked, protested, falsely accused of obstructing an ambulance, and one unfortunate car was burned by an angry mob. While Waymo’s business appears to be doing well, rival Cruise has been plagued by controversy that ultimately led to all of its cars being taken out of circulation nationwide.
Many issues are still being resolved. In fact, this week, a San Francisco resident reported hearing robot taxis honking their horns late at night. She apparently lived next to a car park where cars were parked at night and she said she could hear car horns honking until 4am
When reached for comment by Gizmodo, a representative for the company issued the following statement: “We are aware that, under certain circumstances, our vehicles may briefly honk while driving in parking lots. We have determined the cause. and fixes are being implemented.
