{"id":55914,"date":"2025-11-19T08:36:12","date_gmt":"2025-11-19T08:36:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/55914\/"},"modified":"2025-11-19T08:36:12","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T08:36:12","slug":"driverless-ride-hailing-service-waymo-to-begin-carrying-passengers-in-downtown-san-antonio-next-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/55914\/","title":{"rendered":"Driverless ride-hailing service Waymo to begin carrying passengers in downtown San Antonio next year"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"A Waymo car awaits a passenger in Austin. Credit: Michael Karlis<\/p>\n

Autonomous ride-hailing service Waymo will begin ferrying San Antonians around downtown next year in its self-driving cars, company officials said Tuesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

San Antonio is one of five cities for Waymo\u2019s next expansion, along with Miami, Dallas, Houston and Orlando. The California-based company currently operates its self-driving cars in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Atlanta and Austin.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe haven\u2019t just built the technology; we\u2019ve developed the definitive playbook for operating autonomous fleets, across dozens of sites, and industry-leading end-to-end rider support,\u201d Waymo said in a statement. <\/p>\n

San Antonio residents will be able to hail a Waymo via the Uber app. Once the car arrives, the rider unlocks the vehicle via the app, gets in, buckles up and lets the automated driving software handle the rest.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Waymo began mapping San Antonio\u2019s streets in May.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The service, which uses customized Jaguar SUVs, harnesses LiDAR systems to create a 3D map of its surroundings by emitting laser pulses, which bounce off objects and return to the vehicle.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Even so, Waymo hasn\u2019t been without controversy in cities where the service has already rolled out.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, the company grabbed headlines <\/a>when one of its cars ran over a beloved bodega cat in a San Francisco neighborhood.\u00a0In another incident, a woman in Austin claimed she was trapped inside <\/a>one of the driverless vehicles as it headed the wrong way down a busy thoroughfare.<\/p>\n

Even so, Trish DeBerry \u2014 CEO of Centro San Antonio, an organization that promotes the Alamo City\u2019s downtown area \u2014 said in a statement that Waymo is part of the transportation future.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have led the charge for micro-mobility in the urban core and knew autonomous was on the horizon, so we look forward to helping to educate the public on the benefits, as well as ensuring residents are comfortable with accessing this new way to navigate downtown,\u201d DeBerry said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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