Waymo on Freeway: Self-Driving Demo on Larger Road Commences in Phoenix

Waymo is now driving on the freeway as part of its demonstration tests.

Waymo is now on the freeway from the streets and city roads, with its self-driving car demonstrating its capabilities on larger, more trafficked roads, which is one of the biggest challenges for autonomous vehicles. In this venture, Waymo is demonstrating its capabilities on the freeways of Phoenix, featuring its renowned robotaxi service, which is currently testing how it would traverse the busier highways.

While most self-driving systems and services are still under testing, companies like Waymo are leading the way with their rigorous and meticulous approach. They are keeping a watchful eye on these systems, especially as they are out in an uncontrolled environment, ensuring the utmost safety and reliability of their technology.

Waymo on Freeway: Self-Driving Demo on Larger Roads in Phoenix

Waymo's Self Driving Taxis Launch In Los Angeles
A Waymo autonomous self-driving Jaguar taxi drives along Venice Beach on March 14, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. Mario Tama/Getty Images

Waymo is now on the freeway, and according to CNET's latest report, the company's self-driving cars successfully demonstrated a safe and secure ride as they went on to the larger roads of Phoenix. Alphabet is now testing the capabilities of its self-driving systems equipped with the Jaguar I-Pace electric vehicles, but they are not yet available for the public to try.

In its current demonstrations, Waymo employees ride in autonomous vehicles without drivers as they traverse the freeways.

This is a massive step up for Waymo as freeways are larger roads with multiple lanes, and more cars are seen alongside them than they were used to.

Waymo is More than the Streets and Cities

Waymo focuses on various aspects of freeway driving, including getting on the on-ramp to enter the freeway or exiting through its off-ramp to return to regular streets or smaller roads. It also demonstrated how it can easily change lanes on the freeway, fine-tuning the experiences on the larger roads based on previous feedback and passenger suggestions.

Waymo's Self-Driving Robotaxis

Alphabet, Google's parent company, brought Waymo to US cities to deliver its take on self-driving robotaxi services and offer a new ride-hailing experience without drivers. It first started in San Fransisco and expanded to various cities in different states, including its recent arrival in Los Angeles, with the service seeing more of California.

However, despite being a renowned service now, it still faces many issues and problems, particularly as it has seen many accidents and crashes in its operations. Reports show that these accidents were recently on the rise, with experts suggesting that companies take their self-driving services out of cities, especially with the many hazards they may run into.

Deploying the robotaxis in US cities is still challenging, and Waymo is also facing these issues like its counterpart from General Motors, Cruise, which earlier lost its license to operate.

Despite this, Waymo wants to forge its path in the self-driving ride-hailing business and deliver more capabilities, especially with its demo and tests on the Phoenix freeways for future long-haul rides.

Isaiah Richard
Tech Times

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