You may have spotted Waymo’s self-driving cars across Houston since the company began testing in the city earlier this year. Now, the autonomous ride-hailing service is preparing to take off the training wheels.
Waymo, which operates in Austin and some other U.S. cities, announced Tuesday that it will “soon begin fully autonomous driving” in Houston as well as in Dallas and San Antonio. The company has been conducting autonomous test-driving in the latter Texas cities with the supervision of humans.
“We’ll transition from supervised autonomous testing with a human at the wheel, to fully autonomous testing with no one at the wheel,” a Waymo spokesperson told Houston Public Media. “Employees will take rides as we continue validating the technology on Houston streets.”
Fully autonomous test-driving began Tuesday in Miami, according to Waymo, which said the transition will happen in Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and Orlando “over the coming weeks.” The company plans to offer autonomous rides to the public in those cities “early next year,” the spokesperson said.
Waymo is already fully autonomous and operational in some major cities, including Austin. Riders can hail a Waymo by using the Uber app.
Self-driving cars have been a polarizing issue in Texas cities. State lawmakers have passed legislation to regulate the autonomous vehicle industry. Cruise, a subsidiary of General Motors, suspended operations in Texas and nationwide last year after months of controversy and an incident in California that injured a pedestrian.
Waymo touts itself as being one of the safest options for driving on roads, saying its mission is to be the world’s most trusted driver.
“Roadway safety for all Texans is quite simply one of the most important issues today,” Michael Daley, the Texas Regional Executive Director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, or MADD, said in a news release distributed by Waymo. “Autonomous vehicles hold the exciting promise of preventing deaths and injuries caused by behavioral factors, including impaired driving, which contribute to the overwhelming majority of serious and fatal crashes in the U.S. MADD believes safely advancing progress toward fully autonomous vehicles will help achieve our mission of eliminating drunk and drugged driving. With each advancement in auto technology, more lives will be spared the horrible physical and emotional impact caused by impaired driving.”
Some autonomous trucking companies have launched self-driving freight operations in Houston and other Texas cities.
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