Waymo’s Self-driving Cars Expand To Seattle And Denver

Are we really ready for self-driving cars? The Alphabet company Waymo seems to think so. Elon thinks so as well, but that's another story. Waymo is a self-driving car company based out of San Francisco. They have spent an incalculable amount of money on the concept of self-driving using onboard computers, audio sensors, cameras, lidar, and radar with the hope of providing a safe driving experience without a driver. 

But let's step back for a moment. 

For the last 10 years, Elon has been promoting the idea of full self-driving or FSD in Tesla's. Every year, he says it's coming the next year and the next year it's not here. In that time, Waymo started their business, and Tesla has just in the last few months started offering self-driving cars as taxis in Austin in limited neighborhoods, with limited results. 

There are several companies around the world that are all trying to be the first to have a truly successful autonomous taxi and nobody, (And I do mean nobody) is completely there yet. 

One of the more unusual offerings was a company called Zook's, owned by Amazon. It was a very ambitious project but seems to have petered out.  

Plus, they have one of the goofiest looking cars available. 

So now it's time for Waymo to move into the Seattle area and also Denver. 

According to seattletimes.com,
‘In the Seattle area, the company will be testing Jaguar I-Pace SUVs and electric vehicles from Chinese automaker Zeekr.
But for those looking to eschew traditional rideshares and hail one of the company’s robotaxis, they’ll have to wait. Karp said once the vehicles arrive, they’ll begin a validation process.
“They’ll begin with human drivers behind the wheel,” she said. “Then we gradually transition them to autonomous mode with a human still in the car until it meets our safety thresholds.” 

Currently, Waymo has a less than stellar record, but they are improving. Tesla, on the other hand, is just getting started in Austin and are still having live bodies in the driver's seat in most cars just in case their car does something goofy.  

And it's not like Waymo hasn't been busy. They have over 1500 cars in operations around the United States specifically, San Francisco, Phoenix. Los Angeles and Austin, TX 

Plans are to bring the vehicles to the Seattle area and then start what they're calling a “validation process” where they basically teach the cars where to go and how to drive on Seattle roads. That includes learning how to handle the wet weather. 

Drivers in Seattle will start seeing the Waymo vehicles long before they're actually available for passengers. The goal now is to teach the cars how to drive and where to go on their own before any human passengers are placed in the cabin. 

Am I ready for a self-driving cab in Seattle? I don't know. The last time I used a cab anywhere was 10 years ago in Las Vegas. 

How do you tip a self-driving cab?

Waymo cars arrive in Seattle soon, but don’t expect to ride one yet | The Seattle Times
Alphabet company Waymo is testing self-driving cars in Bellevue - Puget Sound Business Journal