Waymo is bringing its self-driving taxis to San Diego as part of a larger four-city expansion this month.<\/p>\n
The rideshare service is also introducing its cars to Las Vegas, Nevada; Denver, Colorado; and Tampa, Florida.<\/p>\n
The robotaxis have been operating in San Diego before with human drivers, but this will be the first time they function autonomously in the city.<\/p>\n
When the rollout first begins, rides will only be available to employees of Waymo and Alphabet, the company that owns the rideshare service, to make sure the vehicles are safe.<\/p>\n
So far, Waymo\u2019s technology that enables vehicles to drive without humans has been mostly installed in Jaguar I-PACE cars.<\/p>\n
But the rideshare service is bringing the automation to Hyundai\u2019s IONIQ 5, a compact SUV that is fully electric.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis phase allows us to validate our technology for fully autonomous operations as we work to bring riders even more ways to enjoy Waymo in the future,\u201d a Waymo blog<\/a> reads.<\/p>\n The company announced it is also introducing its new Ojai vehicles to the public. The cars include more legroom, three LED screens, and an accessible low step and flat floor designed to make entry and exiting easier. San Diego will be among the first cities to experience the new Ojai vehicles.<\/p>\n Waymo vehicles employ several technologies to function autonomously, including cameras to capture a 360-degree view. They also have Lidar, or Light Detection and Ranging, which provides a detailed 3D map of the vehicle\u2019s surroundings, along with a vision system that sees \u201ceverywhere at once\u201d and external audio receivers.<\/p>\n Currently, Waymo is operating 3,500 taxis with this automation across 10 cities and has finished 20 million rides. The service\u2019s goal is to complete 1 million rides weekly by the end of 2026.<\/p>\n Waymo boasts about the safety<\/a> of its robotaxis. The rideshare service claims that its vehicles result in 94% fewer serious car accidents, 93% fewer injury-causing pedestrian crashes, and 84% fewer dangerous motorcycle accidents, among other statistics.<\/p>\n Despite this, many people still feel skeptical about the driverless vehicles. In recent years, Waymo cars have been caught in several peculiar situations.<\/p>\n