Latest news with #WaymoOne
Auto Blog
a day ago
- Automotive
- Auto Blog
Waymo Vehicles Ignite Protests Amid Public Disturbance Concerns
A California law impacting Waymo has Santa Monica residents fuming Santa Monica, California, residents have been up in arms over the beeping noises at various hours of the day and night from a Waymo-funded parking lot in the area. The 56-vehicle autonomous rideshare fleet, which uses a Santa Monica lot as a charging base, frequently beeps due to a state regulation requiring electric cars to make noise when backing up. Santa Monica officials only learned about Waymo's presence in the lot after receiving resident complaints. Anuj Gupta, Santa Monica's director of transit services, wrote to Waymo's city policy and government affairs manager in a Feb. 11 email: 'What particularly surprised and concerned us is that this site had never come up as a Waymo hub or parking/charging location on any of our previous check-in calls—yet there is clearly a substantial Waymo operation occurring out of these lots that is drawing concern,' according to The Los Angeles Times. Waymo vehicles navigate and charge at a Santa Monica, California charging lot. — Source: Getty However, Lauren Howland, a city spokesperson, added: 'They [Waymo] were not obligated to tell us since they're renting it [the lot] from a third party.' City staff also said that noise recently measured from Waymo's site was within city noise limits. Waymo opened up two charging stations for over 50 company cars in January. Santa Monica locals have tried blocking the Waymos from entering their company lot using cones, cars, and themselves. A strategy that Santa Monica residents call 'stacking the Waymos' involves people sauntering in the vehicle's path to create a backup of the cars. One local practiced Waymo stacking so frequently that the company called the police on him six times and unsuccessfully tried to get a temporary restraining order, The Los Angeles Times reports. Waymo's response to the noise complaints Waymo responded to Santa Monica residents' complaints by saying it: 'Will continue to learn and improve how we introduce ourselves to new communities when we arrive.' While beeping is cited as the primary noise concern, Waymo has taken steps to reduce noise from its parking lots, including buying quieter vacuums for cleaning the vehicles and banning vacuuming from 9:00 pm to 7:00 am, installing bamboo stands to absorb noise, lowering employee working hours within lots, and limiting speed in alleyways to 10 mph. Waymo opened its Waymo One autonomous rideshare service to anyone in Los Angeles in November 2024. Overhead view of a Santa Monica, California Waymo charging lot. — Source: Getty Final thoughts For the most part, Waymo is considered the world's leader in autonomous ridesharing, with several U.S. operation areas, near-future plans to expand internationally, and a quality safety record. Reported issues associated with the fleet, like traffic blockages, tend to be limited relative to how many miles the company logs daily. Compared to human drivers over 56.7 million miles, Waymo had 92% fewer pedestrian crashes and 82% fewer cyclist and motorcycle crashes. Still, chronic noise complaints like the ones from Santa Monica residents are a problem Waymo needs to solve sooner rather than later if it wants to maintain its reputation, especially with how quickly people criticize self-driving tech. Autoblog Newsletter Autoblog brings you car news; expert reviews and exciting pictures and video. Research and compare vehicles, too. Sign up or sign in with Google Facebook Microsoft Apple By signing up I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy . You may unsubscribe from email communication at anytime.
Boston Globe
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Boston Globe
Get ready, Boston. Here's what it's like to ride in a self-driving Waymo car.
Though the robotaxi revolution came to Los Angeles in November, I hadn't had the opportunity or the reason to try it out. I don't use ride-hailing services that much at home because I prefer driving my own car, thank you very much. And besides, Waymo One isn't yet taking On Memorial Day weekend, however, I flew to San Francisco for a commencement ceremony. Rather than rent a car, I decided to give Waymo a whirl so I could report back to people whose cities are next on the list for driverless car occupation, such as Atlanta and Miami and, at some point, Advertisement I wasn't nervous, but I was prepared for the unexpected. Though Waymo's white Jaguars have been operating commercially for more than a year and a half, this is still new technology. There have been plenty of troubling stories about robotaxis Advertisement And then there was Mike Johns's wild Waymo ride. In early January, Johns posted But I was comforted that the vast majority of Waymo's And indeed, my two San Francisco rides were neither wild nor nerve-wracking. Even using the Waymo One app was easy. After I ordered the car, I watched the car progress to a designated stopping point. I briefly wondered how I would tell if it was the right Waymo; they all look the same, with their black top hats and spinning side sensors. Then I saw my initials glowing on the rooftop sensor and got in and said 'hi.' Habit. Advertisement Yes, it's weird to watch a steering wheel move itself. But like anything, you get used to it. Other than a few jerky accelerations, it was smooth riding. My 'drivers' didn't change lanes unnecessarily or hesitate over yellow lights. They obeyed traffic laws much more than I do. At one point a pedestrian with an apparent death wish dashed in front of the car, which stopped immediately and didn't utter a curse under its breath (though I did). I could even watch what the 'driver' was seeing; the center console displayed all the obstacles its lidar ( Generally, I felt safe. Whether I will feel the same way on a high-speed highway trip one day or as a pedestrian is another story. But I did miss the human connection. I have had some amazing conversations with ride-share drivers over the years, most of whom are happy to talk about why they drive as well as recount some of the stranger experiences they've had. In between the Waymo rides, I took an Uber and I found out during the course of the ride the driver had recently worked with a dog-rescue operation in Los Angeles. Cool. But from my view in California, the robotaxi takeover of the roads feels like an inevitability. Right now, Waymo-biles are only open to customers in four cities, including Phoenix and Austin. But the company plans to extend service to Atlanta, Washington, D.C., and Miami later this year. Advertisement Though Waymo may be in the lead, other robotaxi services are catching up. Elon Musk announced It's worth noting that driverless taxi companies have so far focused their operations in locations with little to no snow, which has been a problem for the technology in the past. But I have no doubt that, inclement weather or not, robotaxis will invade the north before too long. At least it will be a comfortable ride.
Miami Herald
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Miami Herald
Waymo Vehicles Ignite Protests Amid Public Disturbance Concerns
Santa Monica, California, residents have been up in arms over the beeping noises at various hours of the day and night from a Waymo-funded parking lot in the area. The 56-vehicle autonomous rideshare fleet, which uses a Santa Monica lot as a charging base, frequently beeps due to a state regulation requiring electric cars to make noise when backing up. Santa Monica officials only learned about Waymo's presence in the lot after receiving resident complaints. Anuj Gupta, Santa Monica's director of transit services, wrote to Waymo's city policy and government affairs manager in a Feb. 11 email: "What particularly surprised and concerned us is that this site had never come up as a Waymo hub or parking/charging location on any of our previous check-in calls-yet there is clearly a substantial Waymo operation occurring out of these lots that is drawing concern," according to The Los Angeles Times. However, Lauren Howland, a city spokesperson, added: "They [Waymo] were not obligated to tell us since they're renting it [the lot] from a third party." City staff also said that noise recently measured from Waymo's site was within city noise limits. Waymo opened up two charging stations for over 50 company cars in January. Santa Monica locals have tried blocking the Waymos from entering their company lot using cones, cars, and themselves. A strategy that Santa Monica residents call "stacking the Waymos" involves people sauntering in the vehicle's path to create a backup of the cars. One local practiced Waymo stacking so frequently that the company called the police on him six times and unsuccessfully tried to get a temporary restraining order, The Los Angeles Times reports. Waymo responded to Santa Monica residents' complaints by saying it: "Will continue to learn and improve how we introduce ourselves to new communities when we arrive." While beeping is cited as the primary noise concern, Waymo has taken steps to reduce noise from its parking lots, including buying quieter vacuums for cleaning the vehicles and banning vacuuming from 9:00 pm to 7:00 am, installing bamboo stands to absorb noise, lowering employee working hours within lots, and limiting speed in alleyways to 10 mph. Waymo opened its Waymo One autonomous rideshare service to anyone in Los Angeles in November 2024. For the most part, Waymo is considered the world's leader in autonomous ridesharing, with several U.S. operation areas, near-future plans to expand internationally, and a quality safety record. Reported issues associated with the fleet, like traffic blockages, tend to be limited relative to how many miles the company logs daily. Compared to human drivers over 56.7 million miles, Waymo had 92% fewer pedestrian crashes and 82% fewer cyclist and motorcycle crashes. Still, chronic noise complaints like the ones from Santa Monica residents are a problem Waymo needs to solve sooner rather than later if it wants to maintain its reputation, especially with how quickly people criticize self-driving tech. Copyright 2025 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
San Francisco Chronicle
24-05-2025
- Automotive
- San Francisco Chronicle
Waymo's driverless taxi service expanding into the South Bay
Waymo on Monday said it received approval from the California Public Utilities Commission to bring its driverless taxi operation to the South Bay and most parts of San Jose. The new territories where Waymo is expected to offer its ride-hailing service include a large area of land near the future San Jose BART line and a portion of Interstate 280, the Chronicle previously reported. The company currently serves more than 250,000 passenger trips across San Francisco, Phoenix, Los Angeles, and Austin, Texas, according to a blog post. The company filed its safety plan for the South Bay expansion with the PUC in March, according to previous Chronicle reporting. Waymo received approval from the California Department of Motor Vehicles for the expansion on March 17. 'While this won't change our operations in the near-term, we're looking forward to bringing the benefits of Waymo One to more of the Bay Area in the future,' the company said on social media. Last week, newly-released regulatory filings revealed Waymo had recalled more than 1,200 self-driving vehicles.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Alphabet's Waymo has Secured Approval to Expand its Driverless Ride-Hailing Service to San Jose
The approval of Waymo, the autonomous vehicle company of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL), to extend its driverless ride-hailing services to San Jose and other areas of the South Bay marks a significant regulatory milestone. According to Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)'s CEO Sundar Pichai, Waymo is forming alliances with automakers, ride-hailing service Uber, and operations and maintenance companies that look after its fleets of vehicles. On May 19, 2025, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) formally authorized Waymo's Passenger Safety Plan, paving the road for the tech giant to extend its service area across the Peninsula and beyond San Francisco. This regulatory development follows Waymo's March submission of a proposal to the CPUC outlining its goals to increase its commercial footprint in the Bay Area. The business wrote in a Monday post on X: "We're very excited to share that the CPUC has approved our application to operate our fully autonomous commercial ride-hailing service in the South Bay and nearly all of San Jose!' 'While this won't change our operations in the near-term, we're looking forward to bringing the benefits of Waymo One to more of the Bay Area in the future." "Waymo embodies our region's spirit of innovation — so it's about time they joined us here in the Capital of Silicon Valley," remarked San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, who expressed early support for the expansion. The California DMV is assessing new rules for self-driving car operations, which is why Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)'s Waymo is expanding at a rapid pace. As of April, the business reported providing over 250,000 Waymo paid rides per week around the United States, continuing to scale its commercial deployment. In the same month, Waymo announced its first collaboration with Toyota to explore the incorporation of autonomous technology into privately owned automobiles. While we acknowledge the potential of GOOGL to grow, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than GOOGL and that has 100x upside potential, check out our report about this READ NEXT: and Disclosure: None.
