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Alphabet-owned self-driving car developer Waymo is opening its driverless robo-taxis service to vetted locals in downtown Phoenix.
Those who are approved for Waymo’s “Trusted Tester” program are eligible to hail a driverless ride (meaning there is no human safety operator behind the wheel) on the Jaguar I-Pace EV in downtown Phoenix. there is. Waymo brands these as “passenger-only” trips to indicate that no human safety officers are on board the vehicle. Trusted Tester signs a confidentiality agreement and cannot share her experience with social media or journalists.
In May, Waymo co-CEO Dmitri Dolgov said on stage at TC Sessions: Mobility that employees were able to initiate driverless rides in downtown Phoenix without a human operator. Publishing to trusted testers is the next step before a wider public release.
Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego posted messages (along with a video) on Twitter and Instagram to mark the occasion.
Waymo has created a playbook of sorts for how it will test, launch, and scale its self-driving ride-hailing service in the Phoenix area. The company initially tested its self-driving Pacifica Chrysler Hybrid minivan in a suburb east of Phoenix with a human safety operator at the wheel.
In 2017, Waymo launched a ride-hailing service to vetted members of the public, dubbed the “Early Rider Program” and later renamed the “Trusted Tester” program. (Locals can download the Waymo One app, create an account, and express their interest in participating in the program.) Waymo has since launched a service that is still behind the wheel of a human safety operator. was opened to the general public.
The whole process repeated itself when Waymo pulled the human safety officer out of the driver’s seat and officially launched its driverless robotaxi service outside of Phoenix. Currently, the East His Valley self-driving service area includes parts of Chandler, Gilbert, Mesa and Tempe.
Waymo is using this same strategy when it expands its service area into downtown Phoenix and launches a ride-hailing service to the airport. For now, only Waymo employees can hail a car to the airport. All of these self-driving cars are Jaguar I-Pace EVs, with human safety operators at the wheel.
Waymo is also gaining traction in San Francisco. An employee can hail a self-driving car using his Waymo One app, but trusted testers can only access self-driving cars that have a human safety operator in the driver’s seat.
Waymo has a fleet of over 700 vehicles, a mix of Jaguar I-Pace EVs, Chrysler Pacifica hybrid minivans and Class 8 trucks. Most of these vehicles are located in Arizona, California and Texas and are used for testing and commercial operations.
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