The Robot Report

Waymo continues robotaxi expansion

Organization: Waymo
Country: USA
Website: waymo.com
Year Founded: 2009
Number of Employees: 1500+

Description:
2023 RBR50 LogoIn the last year, Waymo started giving fully driverless robotaxi rides in two cities, San Francisco and Phoenix and even started giving rides from Downtown Phoenix to the Phoenix airport. Its service area in both of these cities grew throughout 2022, more than doubling its footprint in Phoenix and covering most of San Francisco. It also announced Los Angeles as its next city.

Analysis:
While Waymo isn’t the first or only autonomous vehicle company to deploy in Phoenix and San Francisco, the performance of its autonomous driving system sets it apart from its competition, which is mainly Cruise at this time. Waymo holds its robotaxis to a high bar. The company doesn’t just want to create an autonomous vehicle that can drive as well as a human, but one that can drive much better.

Waymo’s service isn’t perfect and still experiences disengagements, but seemingly far fewer than the competition. Robotics Business Review took 2 Waymo robotaxis around San Francisco for nearly 30 minutes, and the experience was flawless. Driverless robotaxis are slowly but surely expanding in the United States, in large part due to Waymo. – Brianna Wessling

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