Waymo starts limited testing of its robo-taxi service in San Francisco

This is the first time Waymo’s robo-taxi service has rolled out outside of the Arizona area.

Early rider Alex Hoffman seen inside a Waymo self-driving vehicle, during a demonstration in Chandler, Arizona, (File photo) (REUTERS)

Alphabet's self-driving unit Waymo on Wednesday said that it has begun testing in San Francisco. The rider testing will be limited to employee volunteers initially. It is also the first expansion of the robo-taxi service beyond the Phoenix, Arizona area.

According to Waymo, its self-driving Chrysler Pacificas and Jaguar I-Pace electric SUVs have now covered more than 20 billion miles using computer simulations. They have also traversed 20 million miles on public roads in as many as 25 cities since the programme began.

Waymo's initial phase of testing will have a limited number of cars and riders. This, however, will be scaled up over time. Currently, rides will be offered with a single-vehicle operator.

“The initial program starts this week and will last for several, but we plan to grow it over time. We don't have any specific timelines to share about when (or where) we'll be offering a public service. It's worth bearing in mind this is for early product testing and continuous improvement, and there are many further steps we'd need to go through … before we could deploy a service to the public,” a Waymo spokesperson told VentureBeat.

Waymo also noted that the testing in San Francisco would mean solving topographical challenges such as rolling hills, big freeways, bike lanes and even sandy ocean highways. It added that the company has also made several improvements to its technology to cater to dense areas such as San Francisco.

For instance, the optimised Waymo Driver's 360-degree vision system and lidar can now better navigate denser areas. The cameras onboard can now spot traffic lights changing from a longer distance. The sensors can also spot a jaywalker and act accordingly.

For busier places, Waymo has improved the software to help better understand nuances. For instance, it can distinguish between a pedestrian, tree, and a pedestrian carrying a Christmas tree.

“If we pull up next to a bus by a crosswalk on Beach Street in Fisherman's Wharf, our Driver can reason that hidden passengers may be getting off, and that they may soon cross the street,” Waymo explained.