Google's subsidiary Waymo opens autonomous taxi services to all users in San Francisco
Google's autonomous driving car subsidiary Waymo has expanded its self-driving taxi service in San Francisco. Nearly 300,000 people have registered for the Waymo One service, and the company is collaborating with government officials and road safety advocates to ensure the safety and reliability of the transportation. This is the second time Waymo has launched autonomous car services citywide after Phoenix in 2020. Waymo also offers services in Los Angeles and Austin. Waymo has experienced relatively less controversy and has a large public affairs business. As of the end of March, Waymo's autonomous vehicle mileage in San Francisco has reached 3.8 million miles
According to the information from the Zhitong Finance and Economics APP, Waymo, the self-driving car subsidiary of Google (GOOGL.US), has now opened its autonomous taxi service to all users in San Francisco, expanding the service's coverage. It is reported that the service has been provided to a limited number of passengers in the city.
In a blog post on Tuesday, Waymo stated that since the company opened the waiting list, nearly 300,000 people have registered for the service called Waymo One. After a period of testing, the company began commercial passenger operations in August.
Waymo stated in the post, "We are committed to gradually and responsibly developing our service. We work closely with city and state officials, emergency responders, and road safety advocates to ensure that our service provides local communities with reliable, safe, environmentally friendly transportation and has a positive impact on travel."
This is the second time Waymo has launched a city-wide autonomous car service, following Phoenix in 2020. Waymo One also provides services to a limited number of passengers in Los Angeles and Austin, Texas. As of February, the company has about 700 vehicles in the Waymo One fleet, with approximately 300 of them part of its San Francisco service.
In recent months, autonomous vehicles have faced opposition from some members of the public following collisions and other accidents. In October last year, Cruise, the autonomous vehicle division of General Motors (GM.US), suspended all autonomous operations after a previous collision led to the company being investigated in California and having its license revoked.
However, Waymo has faced fewer controversies. The company has a large public affairs business and closely communicates with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and local emergency responders.
Waymo stated that this 15-year-old project was renamed Waymo in 2016 and has now driven approximately 20 million miles of fully autonomous driving and nearly 2 million paid rides. The company stated that by the end of March, the company's dedicated vehicle miles in San Francisco had reached 3.8 million miles