For the first time, Waymo will let robotaxi riders travel on freeways in L.A., Phoenix and the Bay Area, marking a major expansion of its service
Waymo is shifting gears onto the freeway. The self-driving car company announced on Wednesday that it will begin letting robotaxi customers travel on freeways for the first time in Los Angeles, Phoenix and the San Francisco Bay Area.
Until now, the company had kept its autonomous vehicles on city streets, citing the higher speeds and complexity of highway driving. But after years of testing, the company says it’s ready to take to the freeway.
“Freeway driving is one of those things that’s very easy to learn but very hard to master when we’re talking about full autonomy without a human driver as a backup, and at scale. So, it took time to do it properly,” Waymo co-CEO Dmitri Dolgov said in a briefing with reporters.
Waymo becomes the first U.S. company to offer fully autonomous freeway rides – no human drivers inside – to paying drivers. The expansion comes as the competition heats up with Tesla’s upcoming robotaxi service and Amazon’s Zoox.
In NBC’s test ride, a Waymo car merged, exited, and navigated traffic well, even avoiding a driver who tried to cut across a solid white line. The company said its cars will stick to posted speed limits and gradually roll out freeway routes as it monitors the performance.
Waymo also plans to double the number of cities it serves, expand curbside airport pickups and introduce a new van called Zeekr RT. It is a major leap in a long race toward the future of driverless travel, one that is finally hitting the fast lane.