Waymo's self-driving cars are finally on the road, and Phoenix residents can call for free rides

Waymo's self-driving cars are finally on the road, and Phoenix residents can call for free According to news on April 26, Waymo, a self-driving company owned by Google...

News on April 26, Waymo, a self-driving company owned by Google, announced yesterday that it will allow ordinary passengers to test drive its self-driving cars. Residents of Phoenix, Arizona, USA can apply for a free test drive.

Waymo said that there are hundreds of places for this trial ride program, and the company provides more than just a single self-driving experience. These early trial passengers and their families can also use Waymo's self-driving SUVs and MPVs as their primary or secondary transportation for free. Of course, every time you take a ride in a Waymo self-driving car, there will be a human driver on board to prevent accidents.

Waymo’s purpose is to collect information about ordinary passengers’ experiences with self-driving cars in real life. "We will learn from this program where people will go in self-driving cars, how they will communicate with the car, and what information they want in the car," Waymo CEO John Krafcik wrote in a blog post on Medium.

This is the first time that Waymo has disclosed its latest progress to the outside world in such a high-profile manner since Google began developing self-driving cars in 2009. In 2015, Waymo let a non-employee drive alone for a distance in its self-driving car, but the company did not make its self-driving car public debut for more than a year.

"Our early test riders will play an important role in introducing autonomous driving to the world, including private cars, public transportation, private cars and logistics," said John Krafcik.

Waymo is currently accepting public applications for the project. Waymo has not put forward specific requirements for who will receive these hundreds of places, but it is summarized as "people with different backgrounds but with transportation needs." In addition, applicants must be over 18 years old. Currently, this program is limited to residents of Chandler, Gilbert, Mesa and Tempe counties in Phoenix. It will be opened to more areas in the future.

Although Arizona, where Phoenix is ​​located, does not require self-driving cars to obtain a license before testing self-driving cars on public roads like in California, Waymo's step is still quite radical. Currently, Waymo has not disclosed whether passengers need to be responsible for their own safety when riding in self-driving cars.

According to a Waymo spokesperson, test riders who apply will be able to download a Waymo App and reserve a nearby self-driving car through the App. There is no charge for using the vehicle, but they will be asked to answer questions about the ride experience.

Uber also invited some local residents to test drive its self-driving cars in Pittsburgh last year, and now it has expanded its scope to Phoenix and San Francisco. Both self-driving companies are conducting public testing in Arizona, which shows that Arizona is very receptive to new technologies. After Waymo announced this test ride program, the Arizona Department of Transportation responded to technology media The The Verge said:

"The nature of transportation is undergoing drastic changes. In the next few years, transportation may be shorter than we think, and transportation may use technology that we now consider very futuristic. Arizona is ready to stand with companies like Waymo/Google to create a better environment for the development of autonomous driving technology, but at the same time public safety will be the first priority. The Arizona Department of Transportation is very much looking forward to this public test of Waymo and the benefits it will bring to improve road transportation."