Waymo’s autonomous car service is finally here.
The company began by launching Waymo One, as its first-ever commercial ride-hailing service.
People living in areas of the metro Phoenix region can utilize an application to request for a self-driving car 24/7 the same way they would ask for ridesharing vehicles, complete with trip reviews and price estimates.
Only a maximum of three adults and one child can travel together on a single trip.
Waymo is embarking on rolling out autonomous cars cautiously with the hope of avoiding more collisions and lead the community gradually into a driverless future.
Initially, the Waymo car service will be restricted to “early riders” who have previously participated in Waymo’s test programs.
The first undertaking will also identify human drivers who are ready to take over the controls in case a problem arises.
Furthermore, there will be a program put in place for testing various changes before they affect Waymo One.
The ride-hailing application will show Waymo’s caution, with the customer support assuming a more prominent role.
Riders will enjoy fast access to chat and phone support as well as responses to typical questions, for instance, if they can or cannot switch their destination in the middle of the ride.
Waymo intends to introduce Waymo One to the public gradually.
In fact, driverless transport is seen more as a question of “when” as opposed to “if”.
As such, we can expect that to take place in the near future.
Waymo has been talking about self-driving taxi service for over one year, and cases such as the collision with a motorcycle that happened back in October could make both Waymo and its clientele a little concerned even though all the high-profile accidents are attributed to human error.
The company intends to avert a fatal accident like that of Uber at whatever cost.
As for what Waymo will do next? It can be expected to expand its operations gradually at first.
The company has the green light to test its autonomous vehicles completely on California road, even though that undertaking does not guarantee that it will roll out a paid service in that state in the near future.
Waymo’s long-term endeavors are hinged on legislation even as the company continues to fine-tune its the technology, primarily for inclement weather and other obstacles.
Nevertheless, Waymo One still represents a considerable milestone on the road towards achieving mainstream autonomy, especially in the automobile industry.
