SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) — U.S. autonomous driving company Waymo said Wednesday it is offering robotaxi rides on freeways in the cities of Phoenix and Los Angeles, as well as the San Francisco Bay Area.
With the update, Waymo’s service area now covers the entire peninsula from San Francisco to San Jose, in the U.S. state of California, the company said in a statement.
Expanding service territory in the Bay Area and introducing freeways is a major expansion built on real-world performance and millions of miles logged on freeways, according to the company.
Initially, freeway rides will not be available to all users, the company noted.
“We’re offering freeway access to a growing number of public riders and will introduce the service to more over time, including as we expand freeway capabilities to Austin, Atlanta, and beyond,” the company said.
“Freeway driving is one of those things that’s very easy to learn, but very hard to master when we’re talking about full autonomy without a human driver as a backup, and at scale,” Waymo co-CEO Dmitri Dolgov said in a media briefing. “It took time to do it properly, with a strong focus on system safety and reliability.”
