Autonomous car firm Waymo will start testing driverless automobiles in San Antonio within the coming weeks. However residents gained’t be capable of order rides in these automobiles till someday in 2026.
“We’ll start by providing staff totally autonomous journeys earlier than opening our service to the general public subsequent yr,” stated Chris Bonelli, Waymo’s product communications supervisor, in an e-mail. “Testing will start within the downtown and surrounding areas, together with San Antonio Worldwide Airport.”
Waymo automobiles have been noticed working with drivers in San Antonio.
Waymo already serves public riders in Austin, Atlanta, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Phoenix. The corporate has scheduled future providers in a dozen new cities, together with Dallas, Houston and San Antonio.
Bonelli stated Waymo’s automated driver is much less more likely to trigger severe harm collisions than human drivers.
A 2024 research printed by the Nationwide Institute of Well being indicated that people had been extra more likely to be in automobile crashes than automated driving programs, like these utilized by Waymo.
The research checked out Waymo’s operations in Phoenix, San Francisco and Los Angeles earlier than October 2023 and stated the automated driving system had a “promising constructive security influence.”
The self-driving automobile firm did come below hearth in October when one among its automobiles killed a liquor retailer cat in San Francisco’s Mission District.
Autonomous automobiles aren’t commercially obtainable, however they’re allowed to conduct testing and pilot applications whereas being monitored by the Nationwide Freeway Site visitors Security Administration.
Trish DeBerry, president and CEO of downtown nonprofit Centro San Antonio, stated Waymo may improve San Antonio’s downtown expertise.
“We now have led the cost for micro-mobility within the city core and knew autonomous was on the horizon, so we stay up for serving to to teach the general public on the advantages, in addition to making certain residents are comfy with accessing this new solution to navigate downtown and the better San Antonio space,” DeBerry stated in an announcement.
Bonelli stated residents ought to deal with Waymo’s automobiles like another driver on the highway.
Folks can submit suggestions to Waymo on the corporate’s web site.
