Residents of California, Nevada, and Texas will soon have more opportunities to use an autonomous vehicle thanks to a spate of new driverless deployments.
Waymo announced earlier this month that it has officially opened up its robotaxi service, Waymo One, to all riders in Los Angeles after offering limited service there. Waymo vehicles have been on the road in LA for months, but the service was only available via a waitlist that grew to some 300,000 prospective riders, according to Waymo.
The Alphabet-owned startup recently has gained even more ground as the leader of the robotaxi sector. It’s now providing over 150,000 paid rides per week in Phoenix, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, according to the company.
“Our service has matured quickly and our riders are embracing the many benefits of fully autonomous driving,” Tekedra Mawakana, Waymo’s co-CEO, said in a statement.
This latest expansion will open up Waymo One access across nearly 80 square miles of the city, with plans to eventually cover more of Los Angeles County in the future, according to a company blog post.
Leaf Jiang, CEO of NODAR, which develops 3D vision systems for AVs, said in a statement that the advancement demonstrates “the importance of precision and reliability in autonomous driving, particularly in dense urban areas,” and heralded Waymo’s expansion as a “significant milestone for the autonomous vehicle industry.”
“Waymo’s move to expand robotaxi availability signals increasing confidence in the technology and marks another step toward mainstream adoption,” he added via PR rep DeeDee Rudenstein.
What happens in Vegas: Waymo competitor Zoox, which is owned by Amazon, announced some steps toward achieving its goal of opening up its robotaxi service to public riders for the first time next year.
Zoox is now testing its AVs on and near the Las Vegas Strip and in San Francisco’s SoMa neighborhood. Initially, rides in these expanded service areas will only be available to Zoox employees. Starting in 2025, the company plans to launch a free early rider program in Vegas.
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“We didn’t deploy our robotaxi in these environments until we met and exceeded key metrics necessary for its safe operation,” co-founder and CTO Jesse Levinson said in a blog post. “Driving autonomously and expanding our geofencing in California and Nevada will provide invaluable learnings as we fine-tune our technology in preparation for commercial launch.
Zoox’s AVs don’t have steering wheels or pedals. The company claims it’s self-certified that they comply with federal safety regulations, but reports indicate it’s possible that regulators could throw a wrench into Zoox’s plans.
Changing direction: Autonomous delivery startup Nuro, which recently switched gears on its business model and started licensing its AV tech to other companies, announced on Tuesday that it’s expanding its driverless vehicle deployments in two California cities (Mountain View and Palo Alto) as well as in Houston. The startup also highlighted recent advancements on its tech, including being able to operate on multi-lane roads at speeds of up to 35 mph and driving at night.
“Since publicly unveiling our new direction a little over a month ago, we have seen tremendous interest in our AI-driven autonomy platform from automotive OEMs and mobility companies,” co-founder and CEO Jiajun Zhu said in a statement shared with Tech Brew via Devan Gillick.
It’s not fine: Meanwhile, GM-backed robotaxi startup Cruise has admitted to filing a false report on its handling of an incident in San Francisco last October in which a Cruise robotaxi dragged a pedestrian who’d been hit by another vehicle. Cruise also agreed to pay a $500,000 criminal fine as part of a deferred prosecution agreement with the Justice Department, TechCrunch reported.