Waymo will soon offer fully driverless rides to the public in San Francisco
Waymo takes a step closer to charging passengers for completely driverless rides in San Francisco. The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) granted the company a driverless pilot permit, which allows it to pick up passengers in a test vehicle without a driver behind the wheel. This is only the second participant in the CPUC's driverless license program, Cruise being the first.
By obtaining the permit, Waymo now has the power to offer driverless rides throughout San Francisco, parts of Daly City, as well as parts of Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Mountain View, Palo Alto, and Sunnyvale . Its vehicles are allowed to travel at 105 km/h and can operate 24/7, but the company cannot yet charge for journeys. Waymo told Engadget it will begin offering free self-drive rides to select members of the public in the coming weeks. Of note, the company has been offering free driverless rides to the public in Phoenix since 2020.
The California Department of Motor Vehicles recently authorized Waymo to charge for fully self-driving rides. However, the company still needs to obtain a driverless deployment permit – the next step after this one – from the CPUC in order to start doing so. The agency granted Cruise a robotaxis deployment permit in June, nearly a year after he was allowed to offer free rides to the public.
Like Cruise, Waymo likely won't be allowed to operate its vehicles during periods of heavy fog and rain when it gets its deployment permit. However, Robotaxi companies need to find a way to overcome self-driving vehicle performance issues in bad weather if they want to be able to serve more places and more people. Waymo is taking steps to address the issue and recently announced that it is using its latest car sensor networks to create real-time weather maps of Phoenix and San Francisco. The Alphabet-owned company will use the data it collects to improve its Driver AI's ability to manage weather and better understand the limitations of its vehicles.
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Waymo takes a step closer to charging passengers for completely driverless rides in San Francisco. The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) granted the company a driverless pilot permit, which allows it to pick up passengers in a test vehicle without a driver behind the wheel. This is only the second participant in the CPUC's driverless license program, Cruise being the first.
By obtaining the permit, Waymo now has the power to offer driverless rides throughout San Francisco, parts of Daly City, as well as parts of Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Mountain View, Palo Alto, and Sunnyvale . Its vehicles are allowed to travel at 105 km/h and can operate 24/7, but the company cannot yet charge for journeys. Waymo told Engadget it will begin offering free self-drive rides to select members of the public in the coming weeks. Of note, the company has been offering free driverless rides to the public in Phoenix since 2020.
The California Department of Motor Vehicles recently authorized Waymo to charge for fully self-driving rides. However, the company still needs to obtain a driverless deployment permit – the next step after this one – from the CPUC in order to start doing so. The agency granted Cruise a robotaxis deployment permit in June, nearly a year after he was allowed to offer free rides to the public.
Like Cruise, Waymo likely won't be allowed to operate its vehicles during periods of heavy fog and rain when it gets its deployment permit. However, Robotaxi companies need to find a way to overcome self-driving vehicle performance issues in bad weather if they want to be able to serve more places and more people. Waymo is taking steps to address the issue and recently announced that it is using its latest car sensor networks to create real-time weather maps of Phoenix and San Francisco. The Alphabet-owned company will use the data it collects to improve its Driver AI's ability to manage weather and better understand the limitations of its vehicles.
I
This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here, then reload the page to see it.
All products recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you purchase something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. All prices correct at time of publication.
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