"San Diego will soon become the latest California city to host Waymo's fully driverless, all-electric ride-hailing service. The Alphabet-owned company announced plans to begin mapping city streets and launching limited operations sometime next year - but whether that move will help advance San Diego's safety and climate goals remains to be seen. Waymo's expansion comes as local advocates are calling for urgent action on the city's Vision Zero pledge."
"In that context, Waymo's arrival offers an interesting - but complicated - development. The company's vehicles are fully electric and Waymo has claimed that the software is designed to follow traffic laws precisely and avoid the kinds of human mistakes that cause most serious crashes. This puts Waymo ahead of Elon Musk's Tesla AI, which openly brags about settings that allow riders to speed in their automated vehicles."
"Proponents argue that autonomous fleets could reduce collisions, cut emissions, and fill mobility gaps for those without access to reliable transit. Studies back up this argument, although the studies rely on data provided by Waymo. In 2023, Waymo used its own data to argue their cars are safer than those driven by human drivers. In 2024, a Swiss insurance company released its own study that showed that the robo-taxis react more quickly to changes than those driven by humans."
Waymo plans to begin mapping San Diego streets and launch limited fully driverless, all-electric ride-hailing operations sometime next year. Local advocates are urging urgent funding for Vision Zero infrastructure as pedestrian and cyclist deaths and injuries from collisions continue to rise. Waymo's vehicles are fully electric and the company says its software follows traffic laws precisely and avoids human mistakes that cause many serious crashes. Supporters argue autonomous fleets could cut collisions and emissions and expand mobility for people lacking reliable transit. Studies, including Waymo's 2023 analysis and a 2024 Swiss insurance study, report faster robo-taxi reactions than human drivers, though some analyses rely on Waymo data. Waymo has logged tens of millions of autonomous miles in multiple U.S. cities.
Read at Streetsblog
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