Waymo Begins Self-Driving Car Testing in Philadelphia

Waymo Expands Autonomous Vehicle Testing and Deployment

Waymo is continuing its expansion, adding four new cities to its program for deploying robotaxis. The company revealed on Wednesday the commencement of autonomous vehicle testing – with a human safety operator present – in Philadelphia.

Furthermore, data collection through manual driving will soon begin in Baltimore, St. Louis, and Pittsburgh. This proactive approach aims to gather crucial information for future autonomous operations.

Future Commercial Availability

Currently, Waymo has not specified a definitive schedule for the initiation of commercial robotaxi services in these newly added locations. It remains unclear whether the Alphabet subsidiary will establish partnerships with other businesses to facilitate robotaxi operations within each city.

Previous deployments, such as those in Atlanta and Austin, have involved collaborations with companies like Uber to accelerate the rollout of Waymo’s robotaxi technology.

Growing Operational Footprint

These new locations augment a growing list of over 20 cities where Waymo is actively providing rides, preparing for commercial launches, or conducting testing procedures.

The company has also broadened its service area to include freeway driving in Los Angeles, Phoenix, and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Waymo has set an ambitious goal of achieving one million rides per week by the close of 2026.

Safety and Ongoing Investigations

Waymo asserts that its vehicles operate with a safety record five times superior to that of human drivers, based on recently published data. However, the expansion hasn't been without challenges.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is currently investigating the behavior of Waymo’s vehicles in proximity to school buses. This investigation was prompted by footage of a Waymo vehicle maneuvering around a stationary school bus in Atlanta last September.

Concerns Regarding School Bus Interactions

Recent reporting by KXAN in Austin has highlighted instances of Waymo vehicles passing school buses while students were actively loading or unloading.

These occurrences were documented even after Waymo stated it had deployed software updates intended to rectify the issue. This raises questions about the effectiveness of the implemented solutions.

The company is working to address these concerns and ensure the safety of vulnerable road users.