Waymo has given its robotaxis the green light to hit the highway, marking a major milestone in the development of self-driving technology. The Alphabet subsidiary, which offers a range of autonomous transportation services, is now allowing its vehicles to cruise down freeways in several cities across the US and internationally.
This latest move brings the company's robotaxi service to six major metros: Atlanta, Austin, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Francisco Bay Area, and Dallas. Waymo plans to launch its service in several other cities next year, including Miami, Nashville, Las Vegas, Detroit, and London.
For now, freeway trips will be limited to specific sections of highways, with US Route 60, Interstates 10 and 17, and Loop 202 in Phoenix being among the routes available. In the Bay Area, riders can expect to see freeways like US Route 101, Interstates 80, 280, and 380, as well as State Routes 85, 92, and 237.
However, not everyone will be able to take advantage of these new highway routes just yet. Currently, freeway trips are only available to Waymo riders who opt in to the service within the app. This restriction is set to be lifted over time, with the company gradually rolling out the feature to all its users.
So how did Waymo achieve this breakthrough? The company's engineers supplemented real-world driving data and training with simulations, creating system redundancies that ensure the vehicles can fall back on a backup computer if something goes wrong. The vehicles have also been trained to exit highways in emergency situations, but they're also equipped to pull over safely.
Waymo is touting this move as a major step forward for its technology, with co-CEO Dmitri Dolgov saying that freeway driving is "one of those things that's very easy to learn, but very hard to master." The company has also highlighted the importance of safety, noting that highways are predictable environments where vehicles' software can be trained to recognize and predict a range of scenarios.
While there have been safety emergencies on highways during Waymo's testing phases, the company claims that these events are relatively rare. Nevertheless, the team acknowledges that highway crashes at high speeds pose a significant risk, which is why they opted for a combination of real-world data, simulations, and redundancies to ensure the vehicles can operate safely.
For passengers, the new feature promises to be a game-changer, with Waymo's autonomous taxis potentially cutting travel times in half. The company has been testing its service on area roads since last summer but is now ready to take the plunge onto the highways.
This latest move brings the company's robotaxi service to six major metros: Atlanta, Austin, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Francisco Bay Area, and Dallas. Waymo plans to launch its service in several other cities next year, including Miami, Nashville, Las Vegas, Detroit, and London.
For now, freeway trips will be limited to specific sections of highways, with US Route 60, Interstates 10 and 17, and Loop 202 in Phoenix being among the routes available. In the Bay Area, riders can expect to see freeways like US Route 101, Interstates 80, 280, and 380, as well as State Routes 85, 92, and 237.
However, not everyone will be able to take advantage of these new highway routes just yet. Currently, freeway trips are only available to Waymo riders who opt in to the service within the app. This restriction is set to be lifted over time, with the company gradually rolling out the feature to all its users.
So how did Waymo achieve this breakthrough? The company's engineers supplemented real-world driving data and training with simulations, creating system redundancies that ensure the vehicles can fall back on a backup computer if something goes wrong. The vehicles have also been trained to exit highways in emergency situations, but they're also equipped to pull over safely.
Waymo is touting this move as a major step forward for its technology, with co-CEO Dmitri Dolgov saying that freeway driving is "one of those things that's very easy to learn, but very hard to master." The company has also highlighted the importance of safety, noting that highways are predictable environments where vehicles' software can be trained to recognize and predict a range of scenarios.
While there have been safety emergencies on highways during Waymo's testing phases, the company claims that these events are relatively rare. Nevertheless, the team acknowledges that highway crashes at high speeds pose a significant risk, which is why they opted for a combination of real-world data, simulations, and redundancies to ensure the vehicles can operate safely.
For passengers, the new feature promises to be a game-changer, with Waymo's autonomous taxis potentially cutting travel times in half. The company has been testing its service on area roads since last summer but is now ready to take the plunge onto the highways.
I think this is super exciting! I've always wondered how self-driving cars would handle high-speed driving, and now we're seeing it in action 
. It's cool that they're starting with specific routes and gradually adding more cities to their service. My main concern is safety, of course - there have been some close calls during testing phases, but Waymo seems to be taking a cautious approach by incorporating redundancies and real-world data into their system 
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. Will they feel comfortable with the idea of a robot behind the wheel? 
I think it's refreshing that Waymo is prioritizing safety, and I'm hopeful that we'll see more autonomous vehicles hitting the roads in the near future 
especially in cities like london , detroit and las vegas which are always on the move . and whoa , travel times could literally be cut in half !! that's amazing
just think about all those human errors & accidents that could've happened while they were testing this, i mean we're still talking about self-driving cars here lol 
. High-speed crashes on highways can be deadly, no matter what the car is doing. It's not just about the tech – it's about human safety too 
. We need to make sure that Waymo (and all the other companies like them) are prioritizing safety above speed and efficiency.
. There's gotta be more than just tech and innovation at play here 
this is a MAJOR milestone in self-driving tech i'm low-key hyped lol! they've got 6 major metros covered already and they're planning to expand to more cities next year. i mean, freeway trips are only available for now but hey who cares when u can cut travel times in half? 
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but i guess we gotta take it one step at a time. what's wild is how far waymo has come in like 2 years. they're basically trying to cut travel times in half which would be sick for commuters 
. and yeah, safety is still a major concern but i guess they've got this redundancy thing down pat 
they're basically just gonna play it safe and not really challenge themselves to learn the skills necessary for real-world driving. Still, I guess it's an interesting step forward 
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