The venture will focus on creating more ways for Angelenos to get around — by bringing stakeholders to the table to develop new ideas, safely testing them on L.A.’s streets, and rolling them out in close partnership with local communities.
Customers who are matched with a self-driving car will be informed within the app of what to expect, and will be able to contact Waymo service with any questions.
The startup, which has secured a license to deploy its autonomous ride-hailing service at The Villages in Fla., says retirement communities might be the only places to support autonomy for some time.
The U.S. Department of Justice announced 33 charges of theft and attempted theft of trade secrets against ex-Google engineer and Pronto AI founder Anthony Levandowski.
The company has been permitted to take part in the state’s autonomous vehicle passenger service pilot program, along with Zoox, AutoX, and Pony.ai.
The agreement is designed to bring together the strengths of each party and expand expertise by assessing market opportunities, working together to research commercial, legal and regulatory issues related to driverless transportation-as-a-service offerings in France and Japan.
In its newly released series of 2018 disengagement reports, the California Department of Motor Vehicles found that Waymo had the fewest autonomous vehicle disengagements per mile last year and Apple had the most.
Waymo will also continue its early rider program, which has been in operation in the Phoenix area since 2017.
The National Safety Council's Deborah A.P. Hersman, president and CEO, will leave the organization on Jan. 11 to join California-based Waymo, a self-driving technology company, where she will serve as chief safety officer.
Waymo is the first autonomous vehicle company in the state to be allowed to test vehicles without a safety operator.