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01 / 05
Waymo Drivers Are Way Safer Than Humans
“Waymo’s commercial robotaxi ramp-up looks expansive, both in geographic reach and in ridership. And by almost every measure, it is — until you pay attention to where the bulk of those robotaxis are actually showing up.
The numbers over the past two years reflect the kind of commercial rollout you’d expect from a deep-pocketed company like Waymo, which spun out of Google and still counts Alphabet as its majority owner. In September 2024, Waymo was operating in just three cities — Phoenix, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Today, it offers robotaxi service in 15 U.S. cities, with most of those commercial launches occurring in the past year. Ridership has skyrocketed, too, with Waymo now averaging 500,000 paid robotaxi rides every week…
a closer look at its fleet shows a company concentrating its efforts in just two states. About 80% of Waymo’s roughly 4,000 robotaxis are in California and Texas, and Texas is where the action is now: Waymo’s fleet there has grown by nearly half in the past three weeks, fueled by a new Chinese-built minivan the company is betting will help it scale.”
From TechCrunch.
“Alphabet’s Waymo plans to bring its robotaxis to Japan next year as the U.S. market leader continues its global expansion.
Waymo will partner with Japanese taxi firms Go and Nihon Kotsu to start a fully autonomous service in Tokyo in 2027, it said Tuesday. The companies expect to start with a small fleet and then expand gradually to 100 vehicles.”
From Japan Times.
“A regulatory cap limiting Zoox to 100 robotaxis in Nevada is set to expire this month, clearing the way for the Amazon-owned company to expand its commercial fleet of custom-built robotaxis in Las Vegas just as competition heats up.”
From TechCrunch.
“Waymo has begun to open up its robotaxi service to the public in Las Vegas, just a few weeks after receiving final approval from Nevada transportation regulators.
The Alphabet-owned company said Monday it will invite public riders on a rolling basis, following a robotaxi launch playbook it has followed in 14 other cities.”
From TechCrunch.