Waymo begins mapping streets in Virginia
Waymo is preparing to enter Northern Virginia if the state grants permission for the robotaxi service, WIRED reported on May 27.
The company, owned by Alphabet, has transported self-driving cars to Arlington and Alexandria last week to begin mapping streets and the features around them.
Waymo spokesperson Ethan Teicher told WIRED it’s “an important preparatory step should the Commonwealth authorize fully autonomous ride-hailing,” although the company “does not currently have plans for a commercial service there.”
The Virginia Senate passed a bill earlier this year sponsored by Sen. Saddam Salim that would establish requirements for the operation of fully autonomous vehicles. A House bill failed to make it out of committee.
Virginia has an Autonomous Driving Work Group that is considering how policymakers could develop regulations for driverless vehicles.
According to Waymo, its service operates in 11 U.S. metropolitan regions and is expanding to 20 more cities, including London and Tokyo. The company says it’s safer than other ride-hailing options, because Waymo driving technology “never gets drunk, tired, or distracted.”
The company has faced some setbacks due to opposition by labor unions and local governments and car trouble on flooded roadways.
Lol , this says ” waymo never gets drunk tired or distracted ” Not according to a recent incident where I think hundreds of ” waymos ended up in one neighborhood driving in circles for hours. No they don’t get distracted at all ! 😆 Or another incident that one drove into a police activity blockade-nope no distractions at all . No thank you . Think I’ll stick to old fashioned people driven cars .
Nope, lets not add stupid cars to the mess of the DMV. Those stupid cars show up all the time in videos… turning or driving through red lights, driving into floods, driving onto roads marked closed for maintenance… Though to be fair, the DMV has plenty of human drivers who do that as well……
I rode in a Waymo last April when I was in Los Angeles. I felt very comfortable, the drive was excellent. The Waymo followed all the rules of the road, more so than most human drivers.It would be such an advantage to have Waymo in Norfolk, Virginia.
I want to see a self-driving car try to go through the main Seven Corners intersection from Wilson Blvd to Route 7 toward Alexandria.
Truth! Now that would be a hot mess. IMO the only way to have “self-driving” cars to even have a shard of success is for ALL cars to be self-driving. There are WAY too many factors that go into driving (not to mention the factor of other drivers) that it would make this nearly impossible to implement safely.