{"id":282291,"date":"2026-05-07T03:55:07","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T03:55:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/282291\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T03:55:07","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T03:55:07","slug":"texas-school-for-the-blind-staff-find-freedom-in-waymo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/282291\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas School for the Blind staff find freedom in Waymo"},"content":{"rendered":"

AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 Marcus Cardwell, who is blind, works as the front desk receptionist at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired<\/a>, where he was once a student. For Cardwell, transportation and mobility have long presented challenges.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow important is feeling independent to you?\u201d Cardwell was asked. \u201cIt\u2019s absolutely important,\u201d he said. \u201cBecause you don\u2019t ever like to feel like you have to wait on someone else when something\u2019s important.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cardwell said relying on rides from others has long been a reality for many visually impaired people. \u201cThat\u2019s kind of normal for us visually impaired people to have to call a ride and wait for it,\u201d he said. \u201cBut the future-looking thing to where you kind of feel that even if people are busy and there\u2019s not a person available to you, that there may be an autonomous car available.\u201d<\/p>\n

RELATED| POLL: Would you feel comfortable riding in a Waymo?<\/a><\/p>\n

Cardwell began using Waymo during the company\u2019s early days operating in Austin, after the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired received codes for staff members to test the autonomous rideshare service. The experience was positive.<\/p>\n

\u201cPersonally, I think Waymo is the best thing since sliced bread,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Emily Coleman, superintendent of the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, said transportation remains a major barrier for many people who are blind or visually impaired. \u201cMobility is probably one of the biggest barriers to employment, recreation,\u201d Coleman said. \u201cAnd so having more ways to access independence is just always a positive change for your community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coleman said some students and staff experienced a level of independence they had not previously known.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey had never gone anywhere by themselves, because you always need a driver,\u201d she said. \u201cYou always have to be on a bus, like you\u2019re never alone and in charge of your own independence. And it was the stories about like, wow, that was my first time ever alone in a car.\u201d<\/p>\n

Waymo\u2019s expansion in Austin has also drawn scrutiny.<\/a> The company has faced headlines involving autonomous vehicles becoming stuck or blocking traffic.<\/a><\/p>\n

A Waymo spokeswoman said the company is continuing to improve the technology while working with disability communities. \u201cWe know the status quo is not acceptable and that is what drives us every single day,\u201d she said. \u201cIn addition to expanding accessibility, we believe technology can save lives. And now that we\u2019ve been driving for over 200 million miles on public roads, you\u2019re starting to see data that\u2019s showing that we are 13 times safer than a human driver.\u201d<\/p>\n

The spokeswoman also said the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired partnered with Waymo three years ago to provide feedback and test the rideshare service. Some staff members are now regular riders.<\/p>\n

Cardwell said he has not personally experienced major issues with the service, though he believes some aspects still need improvement. \u201cThe pickup and dropoff,\u201d he said. \u201cBut it\u2019s nobody\u2019s fault really. I think it\u2019s just the technology\u2019s new.\u201d<\/p>\n

For some people who are blind or have low vision, autonomous vehicle technology has also created hope for greater independence in the future, including the possibility of one day owning and operating their own vehicle without assistance.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a phrase in the accessibility community, \u2018Nothing about us without us,\u2019\u201d the Waymo spokeswoman said. \u201cAnd Waymo really took that to heart.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 Marcus Cardwell, who is blind, works as the front desk receptionist at the Texas School…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":282292,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":["post-282291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282291","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=282291"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282291\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/282292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=282291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=282291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=282291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}