Mobility Innovators’ Post

A Window Into The Autonomous Future. Last weekend, we had the chance to experience Waymo's fully autonomous service in San Francisco. Throughout the 25-minute ride to Oracle Park we were struck by the service's ease, ubiquity, and comfort. Waymo's service, which stretches across the entirety of SF, Daly City, Colma, and Broadmoor, operates 24/7 and is the culmination of 15+ years of Alphabet investment. It's a testament to the capital intensity of autonomy, the industry's progress to date, and a peak into the future of transportation in cities. This week, Waymo plans to start testing its service on Bay Area highways. Read more from TechCrunch here: https://lnkd.in/gqv4KANc

I spent a lovey Sunday afternoon ahead of NVIDIA #gtc2024 riding around San Francisco in Waymo robotaxis. It's been almost exactly a year since my last Waymo ride and that was before the company got it's permit to offer paid ride services to the public (recently expanded to include Los Angeles) In the interim I had several opportunities to ride with Cruise in Austin before their service was suspended. Compared to Cruise, the Waymo service was leaps and bounds better and clearly reflects the experience the company has gained through years of operation in the Phoenix area. Is the service actually truly safe? We don't have enough data to say that. But in riding from a starting point at the Stonestown Galleria on the SW side of the city to Fisherman's Wharf on the NE side, it definitely did a better job overall with path planning and decision making in heavy traffic than Cruise did. The automated Jaguar I-Pace was able to navigate through a busy parking lot filled with pedestrians and vehicles to pick me up directly from my location. Unlike Cruise I didn't have to walk to a limited location (with Cruise I've had to walk as much as 6 blocks) the AV could get to. It also dropped me off precisely where I asked. As a consumer service, Waymo One actually works today within its ODD which is one of the most complex cities in the US. Waits for a ride ranged from 3 to 11 minutes. It wasn't perfect, there was an inexplicable diversion off of Market St for a couple of blocks and the car went through one yellow light that was close and it arguably should have stopped, but otherwise the rides were rides were uneventful Now the next step for Waymo and other companies to really prove to the public why they should be trusted to operate safely and without making congestion worse. Guidehouse ES&I https://lnkd.in/dcUeg6g9

Waymo begins offering robotaxi rides on San Francisco freeways to employees by Tim Fang via Home - CBS San Francisco ([Global] autonomous oracle) URL: https://ift.tt/URTPwBS Less than one week after expanding robotaxi service outside San Francisco, Waymo announced that its autonomous vehicles will begin using the city's freeways. The company announced on social media on Monday that the company's employees can take trips using freeways, following successful tests in Arizona. "After successful testing of our autonomous vehicles on Phoenix freeways, we're expanding our operations. Starting today, our employees will also have access to fully autonomous rides on San Francisco freeways," Waymo posted on X (formerly Twitter). After successful testing of our autonomous vehicles on Phoenix freeways, we're expanding our operations. Starting today, our employees will also have access to fully autonomous rides on San Francisco freeways. pic.twitter.com/DzGdEgkm1U — Waymo (@Waymo) August 12, 2024 In its post, the company touted significant time savings on a hyopthetical ride between Lake Merced and Oracle Park. Last week, Waymo announced the company would begin offering robotaxi rides beyond San Francisco to the Peninsula communities of Daly City, Broadmoor and Colma. In total, the company covers 55 square miles in the region. The move has been met with some opposition to leaders in San Mateo County, who said Waymo gave them little notice. Leaders on the Peninsula are backing a measure that would let local governments regulate autonomous vehicles. The company did not say when freeway trips would be offered to the public. CBS News Bay Area has reached out to Waymo for comment.

Waymo expands to LA tomorrow (https://lnkd.in/g4AF4H-5), while Automotive News titles “Self-driving industry struggles as DARPA race anniversary nears” (https://hubs.ly/Q02pnGQt0). I disagree with Automotive News. Background ☑️ Inventions take a long time from R&D into safety-critical products: Take ESC (https://hubs.ly/Q02pnD2z0) as an example: Developed in the 1980s, the system had only little market penetration by the 1990s. In the 2000s, regulators had collected data to show its usefulness. In the 2010s, ESP became mandatory for all new vehicles in the US and EU in 2012 and 2014. Now, in the 2020s, it has reached over 80% market penetration. 50 years after invention, it’ll be more than 90 percent. #Autonomousdriving has come a long way already ☑️ Ever since I started to work on autonomous vehicles in 1997, I have been saying that “autonomous driving is always 20 years out.” ☑️ In the 1990s, the EU project Prometheus (https://hubs.ly/Q02pnzsS0) set the foundation for driver assistance systems, which launched around 2000 (https://hubs.ly/Q02pnwDg0) ☑️ In 2000, we managed to automate test driving on Volkswagen’s test track. (I was responsible for data fusion) ☑️ In 2004, the first DARPA Grand Challenge in 2004, the best vehicle completed just 7 of 150 miles (https://hubs.ly/Q02pnGPs0) ☑️ In 2005, 5 vehicles managed to complete a similar course, driving autonomously 132 miles through the Mojave desert. (We, Stanford University won, https://hubs.ly/Q02pnyMX0) ☑️ In 2007, 6 vehicles completed the 2007 DARPA Grand Challenge (Carnegie Mellon University won, https://hubs.ly/Q02pnNlh0) ☑️ Google started Project Chauffeur in 2008, revealed its existence in 2010, by 2015 had driven 1 million and 20 million by 2020. In 2022, Waymo started offering rides in SF (https://hubs.ly/Q02pnGQv0) and just got approval to expand to the Bay Area and LA (https://hubs.ly/Q02pnzVV0). This is their opportunity to scale. Yes, ☑️ productizing self-driving is a monumental task, especially in getting the safety aspect right. ☑️ Yes, we (i.e. domain experts) knew all along that it would take a long time. ☑️ Yes, people in the 2015s overpromised millions of robotaxis within 5 years. ☑️ Yes, some pushback was to be expected. ☑️ And yes, it requires a lot of funding, and some companies run out of funding. But that does not mean the whole industry struggles. Instead, ☑️ a value chain has formed around autonomous driving: Machine learning-based perception, teleoperation, labeling, real-time operating systems (e.g. BlackBerry QNX), SDKs (Apex.AI), vehicle operators (MOIA) are available and speed up development and deployment. ☑️ Today, Waymo is leading autonomous driving, currently in San Francisco and Phoenix and expanding down the Silicon Valley and to LA tomorrow. Summary ☑️ The self-driving industry is making constant progress. But it takes more time than the public expected.

Planned expansion of Waymo service sees mixed reactions - CBS News: Planned expansion of Waymo service sees mixed reactions  CBS News #car #cars #awesome

In a recent episode of No Priors, Dmitri Dolgov, Co-CEO of Waymo, engaged in an insightful discussion with hosts Sarah Guo and Elad Gil about the transformative journey of Waymo's self-driving technology. Dolgov detailed the evolution of this technology from its inception at Google to its practical applications today. He emphasized the significant technological breakthroughs that have been essential for achieving full autonomy and highlighted the design innovations present in Waymo's sixth-generation driverless cars. The conversation also delved into Waymo's strategic approach to scaling its operations, particularly in the face of regulatory challenges. Deployment efforts in urban areas such as Phoenix and San Francisco were examined, along with the potential ramifications of autonomous driving on car ownership and urban infrastructure. Key themes included the historical context of self-driving at Google, early challenges faced, safety evaluations, and the importance of building regulatory trust. The discussion also touched on evolving urban mobility trends and the future role of traditional OEMs in the autonomous vehicle landscape. #AutonomousDriving #Waymo #Innovation #UrbanMobility #TechnologyTrends ---------------------- Learn more here: https://lnkd.in/enQ_zWiu

Living in SF feels like stepping into 2030. Waymos are everywhere since they opened to GA last week, alongside Zoox Test Vehicles, Rivians, Cybertrucks, and soon to come Archer Air-Taxis. It's a daily reminder of why this city remains the center of innovation. As an early adopter, I've been commuting via Waymo for a few months now. The evolution has been remarkable: 1. Safety? Check. Never once felt unsafe in my months of daily commute. If anything, it's overly cautious and polite, for example yielding every time there's an emergency vehicle in a nearby radius, even if not on the path. 2. Comfort? Hardly any abrupt braking, smoother rides, less motion sickness. 3. Privacy? Your own bubble with your own music. What's interesting is the adoption curve. I've noticed a clear divide: skepticism about driverless taxis until people actually experience it. Yet, every Uber/Lyft driver I've chatted with in SF seems unfazed by Waymo, and believe it will never become the norm. Watching pedestrians and drivers react is amusing when I ride in one. The photos, the questions – it's a constant reminder that we're living in the future, right now. With Waymo expanding to other cities (hello, Atlanta!), I'm curious to see how they'll tackle highways and how different markets will respond. Every airport run has me dreaming of the day Waymo goes long-distance. Who else is riding the autonomous wave? Curious to hear your experiences and predictions. #Waymo #DriverlessTaxi #AIinMotion #FutureOfWork

Took my first Waymo ride this evening in San Francisco to see the San Francisco Giants win against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Oracle Park with a walk-off home run. Meta-level symbolism. Rode in another one back from the game in the dark. It seemed like the most normal thing ever. The car got everything right, like even the small adjustments to go around a vehicle that was still sticking partially into an intersection. Slowing down for areas and situations that required caution. Drove better than most human drivers. At no point did I or my fellow passenger feel unsafe. Quite the opposite. It was luxurious. Autonomous vehicles will rapidly transform transportation and urban mobility. I’ve read estimates that cities will only need 1/3 of the parking spaces they have now. What will we do with the space that frees up? How else will the way we navigate the world around us change with ubiquitous technology and spatial computing? What an amazing time to be alive.

Starting today, anyone can hail a Waymo in LA!! Our nearly 300K person wait list, and everyone else, can now ride in our 80 square mile territory. As someone who used to call the LA area home, I can't help but think how much Waymo would have improved my life back then. We're operating 24/7, covering popular areas like Santa Monica, Hollywood, and USC. Imagine getting around town without the stress of LA traffic or parking! - Waymo One is now open to all in Los Angeles [https://lnkd.in/gqUeekDA] - Waymo opens robotaxi service to anyone in Los Angeles, marking its largest expansion yet (CNBC) [https://lnkd.in/gGzFGc9i] Waymo’s also proud to serve as the Official Ride-Hail Partner of the Los Angeles Auto Show + AutoMobility LA. If you’ll be in town and attending the show running November 22 - December 1, join us to learn more. #Waymo #AutonomousVehicles #SelfDrivingCars #AI #Innovation #Transportation #FutureofMobility #selfdriving #roadsafety #transparency #FutureofTransportation #Innovation #TIME100Companies #AutonomousDriving #driverlesscars #rideshare #ridehailing #LosAngeles