Alphabet’s Waymo will launch a taxi service with no human on the driving seat. The company already fu tested the self-driving cars on public roads in Arizona,
The test
without a human in the driver’s seat is first in US of this kind as many tech
companies are competing to develop fully autonomous cars.
While
self-driving car companies test their vehicles in public, they routinely have a
human in the driver's seat ready to take over if the technology fails.
As per Waymo
communique the public will start riding its Fiat, Chrysler, Pacifica minivans
without human drivers in a test run of the service in the next few months in
certain areas where the weather is stable like Arizona and Phoenix. While the developers are still await a breakthrough
to face snow or heavy rain.
Members of the public
taking part in the company's trial in Phoenix will be its first customers,
using a ride-hailing app.
At first, those passengers
will be accompanied in the back seat by a Waymo employee, but eventually they
will travel alone, although they will be able to hit a button to stop the car.
It will roll out the
service to the wider public at a later date, although it did not say when.
The service will be free
at first, but Waymo expects at some point to start charging for rides, a
potential way to earn revenue to help offset the steep costs involved in
developing the technology.
The state of Arizona has
no restrictions on self-driving cars, unlike California and some other states.
"Because we see so
much potential in shared mobility, the first way people will get to experience
Waymo's fully self-driving technology will be as a driverless service,"
Krafcik said in prepared remarks after announcing the launch in Lisbon.
With over eight years of
testing under its belt, Waymo is a pioneer of self-driving technology and has
tested its system in six states, the latest being Michigan.
Last week, U.S. auto
retailer AutoNation Inc announced a
multiyear partnership for vehicle maintenance and repairs for Waymo's
self-driving car operations.
General Motors Co ,
which acquired autonomous driving start-up Cruise Automation for a reported $1
billion last year, has signaled its intent to test a robotaxi service in the
near future.
GM Chief Executive Mary
Barra said in October the company aims to take the driver out of its
self-driving vehicles "in quarters, not years." The carmaker's goal
for its Cruise self-driving car unit is to "safely develop and deploy
self-driving cars at scale" in dense, urban environments, not suburbs.
Ref: NDTV gadgets.
