On Wednesday, November 12, the high-tech company Alphabet’s subsidiary, Waymo, announced that its driverless taxi service will be able to operate on highways in the San Francisco Bay Area Peninsula, Los Angeles, and Phoenix, Arizona, providing passengers with more efficient and convenient services.
Waymo, a sister company of Google, has opened up the entire Peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area, expanding its service from San Francisco to major cities like San Jose in Silicon Valley, as well as through several cities where Silicon Valley tech companies are concentrated, including Mountain View, Palo Alto, and Sunnyvale. In addition, it can provide curbside pick-up and drop-off services at the San Jose International Airport. This is the second airport to introduce Waymo service since Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport in 2022.
Waymo’s Co-CEO Dmitri Dolgov also tweeted on X that day, stating that this significant development fully validates the widespread applicability of autonomous driving systems, and looks forward to extending the validated safety record to highways, opening up new milestones for passengers.
Currently, Waymo is the only company in the United States operating a paid driverless service. With over 1,500 vehicles, it operates in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Phoenix, Atlanta, Austin, among other locations, with 500 taxis in Los Angeles. Its competitors include Tesla and Zoox, an autonomous driving company owned by Amazon. Tesla’s self-driving cars still have employees onboard and are operating in Austin and San Francisco; Zoox provides autonomous driving services in parts of Las Vegas and San Francisco.
Dolgov stated at a media briefing that this expansion has been long-awaited, and he is excited to transport passengers on highways, stating that “this milestone powerfully demonstrates the maturity of our operations and technology.”
Mykel Kochenderfer, Director of the Stanford Intelligent Systems Laboratory, highly praised the significance of Waymo expanding the operational range of its driverless cars. According to NBC, he believes this is a major milestone, marking both a crucial turning point for Waymo and a watershed moment for the entire self-driving industry. Kochenderfer stated that “early accidents could severely delay the deployment of such systems.” Driving on highways is more predictable than in urban areas, but the risk of fatal accidents may be higher.
Waymo’s driverless taxis have been operating trial runs on highways for several months. The company stated that this service expansion will reduce travel time by up to 50%.
Waymo began offering paid ride services to passengers in San Francisco in 2023 and is currently the only licensed driverless ridesharing company.
The California regulatory authority approved Waymo’s internal testing on interstate highways a year ago using its driverless cars to shuttle employees. Seven months ago, the company conducted its first driverless driving test on a highway in Phoenix.
Waymo’s driverless cars have driven over 100 million miles without causing any fatal accidents. However, on highways where speeds are higher, there are concerns that any mistakes or malfunctions could lead to more serious consequences.
According to records from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Waymo has a low accident rate compared to human drivers. Waymo also insists that the vast majority of injury accidents are caused by pedestrians or other parties; in terms of avoiding injuries and deploying safety airbags, Waymo outperforms human drivers.
Waymo stated that its driverless cars, whether on city streets or highways, will comply with speed limits even if human drivers around them are speeding.
California highways generally have a speed limit of 65 miles per hour, but actual drivers adjust their speed based on traffic flow. Passengers riding in Waymo’s driverless cars may sometimes feel overtaken frequently. The head of Waymo’s product department stated that if the speed limit is 65, it is the maximum speed; it will not exceed that unless under special circumstances.
Because of this, some critics and California traffic regulatory agencies are concerned that driverless taxis may exacerbate traffic congestion. However, Waymo believes this is not the case, as they have not found their vehicles to have any impact on traffic congestion in their operating areas.
Last month, Waymo partnered with the food delivery company DoorDash to launch driverless delivery services in Phoenix. Some individuals who have visited Phoenix three times emphasized that they have never used Waymo, citing the high prices as the reason, stating that they would only accept the service if prices were halved. ◇