Waymo Now Offering Rides To The Public in Phoenix
Waymo has just recently decided to invite members of the public to test out its autonomous cars.
For those who are living in the Phoenix area, they are able to sign-up for a ride in the self-driving car and be a part of the ongoing trial to test and see how the cars can be implemented into the everyday lives of those who are interested in using them.
There are estimated to be about 600 Chrysler Pacifica autonomous minivans that are a part of the project and the participants who want to try it out are going to be given full-access to that fleet.
They will be looking to accept hundreds of people to try out these cars, they are looking for people with varying transportation needs because they want valuable feedback from the community.
For the folks who get to be a part of the trial, Waymo wants to give them access to their fleet at all hours of the day. Why? Because they want the people to choose at any time they need a ride, at any point of day, to be able to turn to Waymo to meet that need; given they aren't traveling out of a specified zone. This will provide Waymo with a lot of information about people's experience with using the car and their transportation needs.
For those who are going to take part in the trial, they will be able to access the vehicles using an app.
Those who are interested in being an 'early rider' and experiencing the program are able to apply on the Waymo website (link below).
Pics:
Chrysler
Sources:
http://www.autonews.com/article/20170425/COPY01/304259948/google-will-begin-testing-autonomous-cars-with-consumers
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/604274/waymo-has-invited-the-public-to-hop-into-its-self-driving-cars/
http://www.theverge.com/2017/4/25/15415840/waymo-self-driving-minivan-early-rider-phoenix
http://www.theverge.com/2016/12/19/14003642/waymo-google-autonomous-chrysler-pacifica-minivan-photos
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/apr/25/google-self-driving-waymo-invites-members-public-trial-vehicles-phoenix-arizona
https://medium.com/waymo/apply-to-be-part-of-waymos-early-rider-program-5fd996c7a86f
https://waymo.com/apply/
They have some offices or something across the street from my house. They have a couple dozen of those minivans out front. I've been wondering what they were. I feel like I would have noticed if there was no one behind the wheel though!
Sounds interesting, not sure I would want to be the test dummy though.
Nice car and interesting news!
its a new model?
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