Waymo licenses autonomous taxis in California

Waymo, a self-driving car developer that has spun out of Google, has received qualifications from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) on July 2 (local time) to conduct a passenger service test operation program using autonomous vehicles. Got it. As a result, autonomous taxi operations on California roads began.

Waymo has conducted a driverless autonomous vehicle driving test in California since last October. In December, it will launch Waymo One, a dispatch service using autonomous vehicles in Arizona.

In the meantime, after Arizona, California also obtained qualifications to provide dispatch services using autonomous vehicles. Electric vehicles such as the Jaguar I-Pace and Chrysler Pacifica equipped with Waymo’s LIDAR sensor will run through the South Bay area in the south of Los Angeles.

However, the permit is subject to the condition that a human test driver is placed in the driver’s seat and is not charged to passengers. It is also obligated to report total mileage and safety regulations to the CPUC. Therefore, it is expected that Waymo staff will pick up passengers for the time being.

Waymo said its goal is to provide more Californians someday access to the company’s self-driving technology, just as it did with the Waymo One service in Arizona. In the future, it showed a desire to realize a taxi service using a fully autonomous vehicle. Related information can be found here .