Waymo starts autonomous testing in Philadelphia

Waymo is making strides in its robotaxi expansion by initiating autonomous vehicle tests in Philadelphia. This announcement comes as the company also prepares to gather data through manual driving in several other cities, including Baltimore, St. Louis, and Pittsburgh. While Waymo has not disclosed specific timelines for launching commercial services in these new locations, it has been actively forming partnerships in other cities. For instance, in areas like Atlanta and Austin, the company has collaborated with Uber to expedite its robotaxi initiatives. The addition of these cities brings Waymo's total to over 20 locations where it is either providing rides, gearing up for commercial launches, or conducting tests. Currently, Waymo is facilitating rides on freeways in major urban areas such as Los Angeles, Phoenix, and the San Francisco Bay Area. The company has ambitious goals, aiming to achieve one million rides per week by the end of 2026. According to recent data from Waymo, their autonomous vehicles operate at a safety level five times superior to that of human drivers. However, this expansion has not been without challenges. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is looking into incidents involving Waymo vehicles near school buses, particularly following an incident in Atlanta where a Waymo vehicle was seen driving around a stopped school bus. A report from Austin's KXAN highlighted multiple instances where Waymo's vehicles passed school buses actively loading or unloading children, even after the company stated it had implemented software updates to resolve such concerns.