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TLDR: * People can apply to use/borrow a Waymo vehicle (RX450 or Pacifica) for some period of time. * "as part of this early trial, there will be a test drive

by kyrra 10y ago

TLDR: * People can apply to use/borrow a Waymo vehicle (RX450 or Pacifica) for some period of time. * "as part of this early trial, there will be a test driver in each vehicle monitoring the rides at all times." * Limited to Phoenix metro area for the time being. * You apply here: https://waymo.com/apply/ https://waymo.com/apply/ * Waymo will be adding 500 more of the Pacifica minivans for this program.

sounds 10y ago
Autoplaying video. Here's the full text so you don't have to endure that: ----------------------------- After almost a decade of research, Google's autonomous car project is close to becoming a real service. Now known as Waymo, the Alphabet Inc. self-driving car unit is letting residents of Phoenix sign up to use its vehicles, a major step toward commercializing a technology that could one day upend transportation. For the service, Waymo is adding 500 customized Chrysler Pacifica minivans to its fleet. Waymo has already tested these vehicles, plus other makes and models, on public roads, but only with its employees and contractors as testers. By opening the doors to the general public with a larger fleet, the company will get data on how people experience and use self-driving cars -- and clues on ways to generate revenue from the technology. "We're at the point when it's really important to find how real people, outside the Google environment, will use this technology," said John Krafcik, Waymo's chief executive officer. "Our goal is that they will use this for all their transportation needs." Waymo is letting people across parts of the Phoenix metropolitan area apply for the service as part of an "early rider program." Initial users will be able to book Waymo's minivans using an app, but won't have to pay. Dollars will flow eventually, Krafcik said, yet he declined to share details. The company is signing up hundreds of people with diverse backgrounds and transportation needs. Google is a pioneer in autonomous cars, launching its research program in 2009. After mostly ignoring the project for several years, the auto industry has recently rushed to catch up, pumping billions of dollars into similar technology and engineering talent. A bevy of newcomers have joined too, including some founded by former Waymo engineers, making the field incredibly competitive before anyone has made money. Uber Technologies Inc. has emerged as a particularly bitter rival. Last year, autonomous vehicles run by the ride-hailing giant began picking up paying customers in Pittsburgh. Earlier this year, it started doing the same in Tempe, a town in the eastern part of the Phoenix metro area. (Waymo is currently suing Uber over the technology.) Yet Waymo insists its business model will be broader than Uber's. "Yes, self-driving technology makes sense for ride-sharing," said Krafcik, a former executive at Hyundai Motor Co.'s U.S. operations and Ford Motor Co. "It also makes sense for personal car ownership." Transportation to and from transit hubs and logistics also made his list. In Phoenix, Krafcik said participants will use the autonomous minivan fleet every day, at any time, to go anywhere within an area twice the size of San Francisco. Last year, Waymo inked a deal with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV for 100 Pacifica vans outfitted with Waymo's software and tailored hardware. Waymo added the fleet to the to 70 other cars it is testing in California, Texas, Washington and Arizona, which it entered in 2016. Since Google started its program, those vehicles have racked up nearly 3 million test miles on public roads, primarily to refine the autonomous software and ensure the system could handle rare but potentially dangerous edge cases. Waymo has faced criticism for not launching a commercial service sooner. This was especially true last yar when it lost several top engineers, and Uber launched its limited test service. Krafcik has often responded by pointing to safety concerns and technical obstacles to deploying fully driverless cars. The Phoenix service answers some of these concerns. It's a clear move beyond the research phase that focuses on passenger experience and business model development. Waymo's staff has worked on new displays and controls to get people comfortable being inside self-driving cars. The Phoenix passengers will be the first to see these tools in action. Waymo is still moving cautiously. Chosen users for the Phoenix service will sit in passenger seats, and Waymo will put contractor or employee testers in the driver seat -- although Krafcik said the goal is to remove them eventually. The company has quietly been testing the service with a handful of Phoenix residents for two months. From those trials, he noted one behavior trait when no one has to drive. "People have a better opportunity to bond and connect inside the vehicle," he said.
differentView 10y ago
>You apply here: https://waymo.com/apply/ https://waymo.com/apply/ I tried a bunch of zip codes in California, none are available. Phoenix, Arizona works though, I think they're still only testing there.
- jacquesm 10y ago
  GP writes: > * Limited to Phoenix metro area for the time being.
  - differentView 10y ago
    I am the type of person that would benefit from self-driving cars. I don't pay attention.
Asooka 10y ago
Interesting that they only let you borrow for now. Will car ownership be killed with self-driving cars? Will Waymo let you actually buy and own a car that isn't network connected and fully yours? Seeing how value extraction works in today's enterprise, i.e. via rent-seeking, I'm guessing we're headed to not owning cars any more.
- nvr219 10y ago
  > Will car ownership be killed with self-driving cars? I hope so.
  - Neliquat 10y ago
    Serious question; Why would you hope this?
- ryandrake 10y ago
  Unfortunately, the concept of something being fully yours seems to be what's going away. So much of what we "buy" now is locked down by the manufacturer to the point where you cannot even hope to modify or repair it. Automobiles, in particular are getting less and less modifiable every generation. More and more electronic gadgets in the home are locked into only running manufacturer-selected software. Everything is network-tethered to the manufacturer, who ultimately controls whether/how their products operate. Sad times.
- monkmartinez 10y ago
  Yeah, it is working out great for farmers that use John Deere tractors.
- Ajedi32 10y ago
  > Will car ownership be killed with self-driving cars? Probably. It seems way more convenient and efficient to be able to summon a car to any location on demand than to have just one car that you use for everything. No more parking, no more refueling, no more vehicle maintenance; just push a button and a car shows up within minutes (or in some cases, seconds) to pick you up, and step out of the vehicle when you reach your destination. Want a specific model or paint color? It's just a couple taps on your phone away. Car breaks down and needs a tow? Replacement gets summoned automatically, and the car company credits a couple bucks to your account for the inconvenience. If that kind of service becomes available at a reasonable price point, I suspect it won't be long before car ownership becomes much less common.
blhack 10y ago
Just want to say it feels pretty cool that Phoenix gets to be the testbed for this! Self driving waymo/uber cars around Tempe (the suburb where Arizona State University is) have become part of the landscape. Uber has also done a really good job of using their self-driving cars for marketing. My partner and I have taken quite a few uber trips that we wouldn't have otherwise, just because we've wanted to try and get a ride in one of the self-drivers. So far, no luck though.

by kyrra 10y ago

sounds 10y ago

Autoplaying video. Here's the full text so you don't have to endure that: ----------------------------- After almost a decade of research, Google's autonomous car project is close to becoming a real service. Now known as Waymo, the Alphabet Inc. self-driving car unit is letting residents of Phoenix sign up to use its vehicles, a major step toward commercializing a technology that could one day upend transportation. For the service, Waymo is adding 500 customized Chrysler Pacifica minivans to its fleet. Waymo has already tested these vehicles, plus other makes and models, on public roads, but only with its employees and contractors as testers. By opening the doors to the general public with a larger fleet, the company will get data on how people experience and use self-driving cars -- and clues on ways to generate revenue from the technology. "We're at the point when it's really important to find how real people, outside the Google environment, will use this technology," said John Krafcik, Waymo's chief executive officer. "Our goal is that they will use this for all their transportation needs." Waymo is letting people across parts of the Phoenix metropolitan area apply for the service as part of an "early rider program." Initial users will be able to book Waymo's minivans using an app, but won't have to pay. Dollars will flow eventually, Krafcik said, yet he declined to share details. The company is signing up hundreds of people with diverse backgrounds and transportation needs. Google is a pioneer in autonomous cars, launching its research program in 2009. After mostly ignoring the project for several years, the auto industry has recently rushed to catch up, pumping billions of dollars into similar technology and engineering talent. A bevy of newcomers have joined too, including some founded by former Waymo engineers, making the field incredibly competitive before anyone has made money. Uber Technologies Inc. has emerged as a particularly bitter rival. Last year, autonomous vehicles run by the ride-hailing giant began picking up paying customers in Pittsburgh. Earlier this year, it started doing the same in Tempe, a town in the eastern part of the Phoenix metro area. (Waymo is currently suing Uber over the technology.) Yet Waymo insists its business model will be broader than Uber's. "Yes, self-driving technology makes sense for ride-sharing," said Krafcik, a former executive at Hyundai Motor Co.'s U.S. operations and Ford Motor Co. "It also makes sense for personal car ownership." Transportation to and from transit hubs and logistics also made his list. In Phoenix, Krafcik said participants will use the autonomous minivan fleet every day, at any time, to go anywhere within an area twice the size of San Francisco. Last year, Waymo inked a deal with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV for 100 Pacifica vans outfitted with Waymo's software and tailored hardware. Waymo added the fleet to the to 70 other cars it is testing in California, Texas, Washington and Arizona, which it entered in 2016. Since Google started its program, those vehicles have racked up nearly 3 million test miles on public roads, primarily to refine the autonomous software and ensure the system could handle rare but potentially dangerous edge cases. Waymo has faced criticism for not launching a commercial service sooner. This was especially true last yar when it lost several top engineers, and Uber launched its limited test service. Krafcik has often responded by pointing to safety concerns and technical obstacles to deploying fully driverless cars. The Phoenix service answers some of these concerns. It's a clear move beyond the research phase that focuses on passenger experience and business model development. Waymo's staff has worked on new displays and controls to get people comfortable being inside self-driving cars. The Phoenix passengers will be the first to see these tools in action. Waymo is still moving cautiously. Chosen users for the Phoenix service will sit in passenger seats, and Waymo will put contractor or employee testers in the driver seat -- although Krafcik said the goal is to remove them eventually. The company has quietly been testing the service with a handful of Phoenix residents for two months. From those trials, he noted one behavior trait when no one has to drive. "People have a better opportunity to bond and connect inside the vehicle," he said.

differentView 10y ago

>You apply here: https://waymo.com/apply/ https://waymo.com/apply/ I tried a bunch of zip codes in California, none are available. Phoenix, Arizona works though, I think they're still only testing there.

jacquesm 10y ago
GP writes: > * Limited to Phoenix metro area for the time being.
- differentView 10y ago
  I am the type of person that would benefit from self-driving cars. I don't pay attention.

Asooka 10y ago

Interesting that they only let you borrow for now. Will car ownership be killed with self-driving cars? Will Waymo let you actually buy and own a car that isn't network connected and fully yours? Seeing how value extraction works in today's enterprise, i.e. via rent-seeking, I'm guessing we're headed to not owning cars any more.

nvr219 10y ago
> Will car ownership be killed with self-driving cars? I hope so.
- Neliquat 10y ago
  Serious question; Why would you hope this?
ryandrake 10y ago
Unfortunately, the concept of something being fully yours seems to be what's going away. So much of what we "buy" now is locked down by the manufacturer to the point where you cannot even hope to modify or repair it. Automobiles, in particular are getting less and less modifiable every generation. More and more electronic gadgets in the home are locked into only running manufacturer-selected software. Everything is network-tethered to the manufacturer, who ultimately controls whether/how their products operate. Sad times.
monkmartinez 10y ago
Yeah, it is working out great for farmers that use John Deere tractors.
Ajedi32 10y ago
> Will car ownership be killed with self-driving cars? Probably. It seems way more convenient and efficient to be able to summon a car to any location on demand than to have just one car that you use for everything. No more parking, no more refueling, no more vehicle maintenance; just push a button and a car shows up within minutes (or in some cases, seconds) to pick you up, and step out of the vehicle when you reach your destination. Want a specific model or paint color? It's just a couple taps on your phone away. Car breaks down and needs a tow? Replacement gets summoned automatically, and the car company credits a couple bucks to your account for the inconvenience. If that kind of service becomes available at a reasonable price point, I suspect it won't be long before car ownership becomes much less common.

blhack 10y ago

Just want to say it feels pretty cool that Phoenix gets to be the testbed for this! Self driving waymo/uber cars around Tempe (the suburb where Arizona State University is) have become part of the landscape. Uber has also done a really good job of using their self-driving cars for marketing. My partner and I have taken quite a few uber trips that we wouldn't have otherwise, just because we've wanted to try and get a ride in one of the self-drivers. So far, no luck though.