Automotive enthusiasts often shudder when they imagine a world where cars drive themselves, but it doesn’t necessarily need to be the case. We already have self-driving cars operating in some cities—including the one where I live—and I’m honestly a proponent of the technology if it helps remove inattentive, impatient, impulsive, and potentially impaired drivers from public roads.
One of the most well-known robotaxi companies, Waymo, announced today that its autonomous Jaguar I-Paces are now officially capable of taking riders on freeways in the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, California, and Phoenix, Arizona. Waymo’s vehicles have completed over 50 million miles of driverless rides across these service areas, and their crash statistics are remarkably low.
In fact, Ars Technica reviewed Waymo’s crash data and found that the vast majority of collisions involving a Waymo were caused by other cars rear-ending, side-swiping, or crossing the centerline to hit the autonomous vehicles—not by the Waymo vehicles themselves.
Beyond today’s announcement of freeway access, Waymo is also expanding its service area beyond San Francisco proper. The new coverage now includes the entire Peninsula, with service to cities such as San Bruno, San Mateo, San Carlos, Palo Alto, Redwood City, Mountain View, and all the way down to San Jose. This expanded service also features curbside pickups and drop-offs at San Jose Mineta International Airport (SJC).
Looking ahead, Waymo plans to extend freeway capabilities for its driverless cars to other regions, including Austin, Texas, and Atlanta, Georgia. For now, however, this feature remains limited to the California Bay Area, Los Angeles, and Phoenix.
While these regions typically enjoy temperate weather throughout most of the year, winter is approaching and may bring various weather-related challenges. Due to our continued reliance on fossil fuels, seasons and weather systems have intensified in recent years, which could prove difficult for these computer-driven cars to navigate safely.
As the technology advances and continues to evolve, it will be interesting to see how autonomous vehicles adapt to these conditions—and how they shape the future of transportation on our roads.
https://www.jalopnik.com/2024928/waymo-freeway-bay-area-los-angeles/
