Waymo is suspending all its automated ride and delivery services in Arizona owing to the … [+]
Waymo, Alphabet Inc.’s self-driving tech unit, is shutting down all its automated ride, delivery and trucking services in Arizona until at least next month amid widespread moves by U.S. states and cities to keep more people at home to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
The decision comes after the Mountain View, California-based company earlier this week halted rides in its on-demand Waymo One service in metro Phoenix with human backup drivers behind the wheel. At the time it said that fully automated rides, without humans in the front, would continue, along with robotic delivery vans and trucks.
“As we continue to closely monitor the evolving COVID-19 situation, we’re suspending all of our Waymo One rider services in Arizona until April 7th, including our service with trained drivers and our fully driverless operations within the early rider program,” the company said. “All driving operations in other locations also remain suspended for now, along with local delivery and truck testing.”
Dozens of companies are developing and testing self-driving vehicles across the U.S., but Waymo was first to launch a small-scale, semi-public ride program, starting in late 2018 in Chandler, Arizona. The commercial successor to Google’s Self-Driving Car project is now dealing with the same public health concerns with coronavirus that are bedeviling airlines, mass transit systems and other transportation service providers.
Waymo One serves about 1,500 registered users and operates much like Uber or Lyft, with a company designed app that lets registered users hail one of its white vans, adorned with Waymo’s green and blue logo, anywhere within a 100-square mile section of suburban Phoenix. Fares are comparable to conventional ridehail services. The company also recently launched Waymo Via, a separate service to handled automated trucking and urban deliveries.
Waymo this month raised at least $2.25 billion, tapping investors beyond its parent Alphabet for the first time, to accelerate R&D and enlarge its robotaxi and robotic truck fleets.
