The Waymo One ride service using human backup drivers is suspended amid coronavirus concerns.
Waymo is temporarily suspending its self-driving ride service in suburban Phoenix that uses human backup drivers due to coronavirus concerns but will continue to operate some fully driverless rides and deliveries for the time being.
The Alphabet Inc. unit, which initially stepped up daily cleaning of its robotic minivan fleet and made sanitizing products available for its 1,500 Waymo One users, announced the new steps on Tuesday via Twitter. The company began operating a limited number of automated rides without human safety drivers last year but hasn’t provided details on that aspect of its Early Rider program.
“In the interest of the health and safety of our riders and the entire Waymo community, we’re pausing our Waymo One service with trained drivers in Metro Phoenix for now as we continue to watch COVID-19 developments,” the Mountain View, California-based company said. “We’ve also paused driving in California in line with local guidance. Our fully driverless operations in Phoenix will continue for now within our early rider program, along with our 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. And because the commercial successor to Google’s Self-Driving Car project was an early entry in the robotaxi business, it now finds itself dealing with the same public health concerns that are bedeviling airlines, mass transit systems and other transportation service providers–albeit with a much smaller rider base.
Waymo One 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.
This month Waymo raised at least $2.25 billion, tapping investors beyond its parent Alphabet for the first time, to help accelerate R&D and enlarges its robotaxi and robotic truck fleets.
“We can carry out driverless, delivery, and trucking services for our riders and partners while respecting the important social distancing and hygiene guidelines shared by the CDC and local authorities.”
