\u201cWe\u2019re thrilled that Waymo plans to bring its fully autonomous ride-hailing service to Orlando, and to the tens of millions of visitors we host each year,\u201d Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said in a statement, adding that he plans to be \u201cone of the very first\u201d riders. \u201cWaymo will be another exciting transportation option for the region that will enhance the investments we are already making in reducing congestion and increasing road and pedestrian safety,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
According to a city spokesperson, Waymo \u201chas been keeping the city in the loop about their plans\u201d to expand to the City Beautiful, but said that there are no city approvals needed for them to operate.<\/p>\n
The company, at the same time, announced plans to expand to Dallas, Houston, Miami and San Antonio in the \u201ccoming weeks.\u201d The cost of a Waymo ride can vary based on factors such as distance and duration.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A reporter for Business Insider found<\/a> that his 12-minute Waymo ride in San Francisco was pricier at $16 than a ride using the same route through Uber and Lyft. However, since no tip to a driver is necessary with Waymo, the cost for an Uber leveled out to be about the same. The trip through Lyft was still a few dollars cheaper \u2014 even with a 20 percent tip included.<\/p>\n Is Waymo safe?<\/p>\n Waymo has received criticism elsewhere for risks to public safety<\/a> and for its potential to undermine publicly owned and operated transit systems (despite incentives<\/a> Waymo has offered for people to use both).<\/p>\n Labor unions such as the Teamsters and Transport Workers Union, both of which represent professionals in the trucking and transportation industries, have similarly called out Waymo for threatening their members\u2019 jobs.<\/p>\n \u201cNew Yorkers be warned, Waymo will turn pedestrians into cannon fodder and will block streets for emergency responders,\u201d said<\/a> Transport Workers Union president John Samuelsen in a recent statement on Waymo\u2019s expansion to New York City. \u201cWaymo isn\u2019t ready for NYC\u2019s streets and the end goal is to replace rideshare drivers, taxi drivers, and transit workers with robots.\u201d<\/p>\n Waymo, just one of several companies that have rolled out autonomous vehicles, has faced protests<\/a> from drivers for companies like Uber and Lyft in cities such as in Seattle, where Waymo has also looked to expand.<\/p>\n A Teamsters local in Boston last month joined a labor coalition<\/a> in support of a city ordinance there that would regulate and study the potential impact of autonomous vehicles. \u201cI regularly transport patients to Boston hospitals, and if robotaxis block us, freeze in place, or don\u2019t know how to yield, they could kill people,\u201d said Abby O\u2019Brien, a Teamster and paramedic for a local ambulance company.<\/p>\n Waymo for its part has pushed back on critical assessments of its safety and its potential impact on the transportation workforce. \u201cTransportation is a team sport, and we believe autonomous vehicles, professional drivers, and the wider ecosystem will thrive together as we increase transportation options for everyone,\u201d Waymo spokesperson Ethan Teicher told<\/a> Axios in a statement.\u00a0 Driving and trucking is one of the most common occupations<\/a> among young men without a college degree, a 2024 analysis from the Pew Research Center found.<\/p>\n As far as safety, Waymo has faced its fair share of concerns \u2014\u00a0even recalling some 1,200 of its vehicles<\/a> last year after \u201cminor collisions\u201d \u2014 yet has continued to defend the safety and integrity of its software. The company recently released<\/a> the results of an independent safety audit that determined Waymo\u2019s procedures for determining the safety of their vehicles met industry standards.\u00a0<\/p>\n A probe by the federal government, launched last May to investigate a \u201cseries of minor collisions and unexpected behavior\u201d from Waymo vehicles, concluded<\/a> this past July with federal safety regulators reportedly opting not to take any further action.<\/p>\n However, as of last month, the company is once again under investigation<\/a> by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration over reports that its vehicles may not be complying with traffic safety rules around stopped school buses. A Waymo spokesperson told news service Reuters that they had \u201calready developed and implemented improvements related to stopping for school buses and will land additional software updates in our next software release.\u201d<\/p>\n An independent analysis of federal crash data<\/a> by the Substack publication Understanding AI<\/a> found that, from February to August of this year, most of the 41 crashes that reportedly involved Waymo\u2019s robotaxis weren\u2019t the fault of Waymo\u2019s software itself, but rather actions by other drivers or \u2014 as The Atlantic put it \u2014 \u201cseemingly an act of God<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Waymo has argued<\/a> that its robotaxis are actually safer than vehicles with human drivers, stating their \u201cDriver\u201d (unlike actual humans) is \u201calways alert, follows speed limits, promotes seat belt use, and operates some of the safest vehicles on the road.\u201d<\/p>\n Orlando has been working toward eliminating all traffic-related fatalities and serious injuries in the city through its \u201cVision Zero<\/a>\u201d plan by 2040. And city officials say they\u2019ve already made progress.<\/p>\n According to a recent news release, Orlando has already seen a 40 percent reduction<\/a> in \u201cdeadly and serious-injury crashes\u201d since 2019. The city credits this progress to, among other things, their red light camera program<\/a> (which fines drivers who run red lights), the completion of more than 100 \u201csafety projects\u201d along roads citywide, and improving the city\u2019s emergency response through better coordination with Orlando\u2019s police and fire departments.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery life lost on our roadways is one too many,\u201d Mayor Dyer said in a recent statement. \u201cBy designing safer streets, using technology to improve enforcement and working closely with our first responders and residents, we\u2019re proving that traffic deaths are preventable and that together, we can make Orlando\u2019s streets safe for everyone.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Subscribe to Orlando Weekly newsletters.<\/a><\/p>\n Follow us:\u00a0Apple News<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Google News<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0NewsBreak<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Reddit<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Instagram<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Facebook\u00a0<\/a>|\u00a0Bluesky<\/a>\u00a0| Or sign up for our\u00a0RSS Feed<\/a><\/p>\n Related Stories<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\tFeaturing Kimball Collins, Dave Cannalte, Jimmy Joslin, Magic Mike, DJ Icey, BMF, Cliff T and Carlos Mendoza\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\tCupid\u2019s strikes its all-beef arrows into hearts of wiener lovers once again\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n \t
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