PITTSBURGH \u2014 Self-driving Waymo vehicles are now on the roads in Pittsburgh, with trained specialists behind the wheel. The company says it\u2019s working with the city and state, as this software is being tested.<\/p>\n
RELATED COVERAGE >>> Waymo now testing fully autonomously in Pittsburgh with safety technician behind the wheel<\/a><\/p>\n Autonomous vehicles, or AVs, were a hot topic at this week\u2019s AI Horizons Summit in Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want innovation and investments to happen here in Pittsburgh and all across this country,\u201d said Johnathan Morrison of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.<\/p>\n Waymo is now one step closer to offering robotaxi rides in our area as testing continues.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are now driving fully autonomously in Pittsburgh with a safety driver behind the wheel,\u201d said Euan Guttridge, senior director & head of technical programs at Waymo.<\/p>\n Local drivers are taking notice.<\/p>\n \u201cI see them, not every day, but almost every day,\u201d said Andy Ramage of Swissvale. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of cool, but it\u2019s kind of also dystopian and a little bit scary.\u201d<\/p>\n Guttridge described how the process works: building and testing the map of a downtown region and slightly beyond, initially.<\/p>\n \u201cWe go through a series of many hundreds of thousands of miles testing, like that, then we open it up to trusted testers, then we opened it up to the general public,\u201d Guttridge said.<\/p>\n Waymo stressed the importance of continuing to work with regulators on cybersecurity to ensure this ai technology can make our local roadways as safe as they can possibly be.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are over 40,000 deaths in the us alone due to road traffic accidents, 1.2 million globally \u2014 so there\u2019s an urgency to solve this,\u201d said Guttridge.<\/p>\n Waymo officials say they have not yet received state permission to operate without a person behind the wheel but hope to launch commercial service soon.<\/p>\n Download the FREE WPXI News app<\/a> for breaking news alerts.<\/p>\n Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook<\/a> and Twitter<\/a>. | Watch WPXI NOW<\/a><\/p>\n TOP STORIES FROM CHANNEL 11 NEWS <\/p>\n \u00a92026 Cox Media Group<\/p>\n