**Article: The Rise and Promise of Waymo One: A Self-Driving Revolution**
**Introduction**
In 2018, the world was abuzz with anticipation for self-driving cars, and Phoenix, Arizona, became a hotspot for this technological advancement. Waymo, originally Google's self-driving car project, launched its long-awaited commercial service,Waymo One. This article delves into the journey of Waymo, the experience of its ride, safety measures, public perception, and broader implications.
**The Rise of Waymo**
Waymo has emerged as a pioneer in autonomous vehicle technology, boasting over 10 million miles driven on public roads. Its conservative driving approach, characterized by cautious decision-making, has resulted in a commendable disengagement rate—instances where human intervention is needed. This commitment to safety and efficiency positions Waymo at the forefront of the autonomous vehicle industry.
**A Glimpse Inside the Ride**
Experiencing a ride in Waymo's self-driving Chrysler Pacifica mini-van is akin to traveling with a cautious student driver. The van, equipped with advanced sensors like Lidar, radar, ultrasonic sensors, and cameras, offers a 360-degree view of its surroundings. Passengers can interact with touchscreens displaying real-time sensor data, where other vehicles appear blue, pedestrians white, and the planned route as a green line.
**Safety and Caution**
Waymo's conservative driving strategy ensures safety but may frustrate those expecting more assertive behavior. The vehicle hesitates at junctions without traffic signals, pausing to assess gaps in traffic before proceeding. This cautious approach reflects Waymo's mission: "to bring safety to all roads." However, this mission faced a significant challenge with the fatal collision of an Uber self-driving car in Tempe, Arizona, highlighting the critical need for rigorous testing and public trust.
**The Broader Implications**
While autonomous vehicles promise reduced traffic fatalities by minimizing human error, their impact on urban transportation is complex. Phoenix, known for its congestion and high pedestrian death rates, offers a real-world test case. Yet, the broader shift towards alternative transportation modes, such as biking and scooters, suggests that self-driving cars alone may not solve all transportation issues.
**Conclusion**
Waymo One's launch in Phoenix marks a pivotal moment in autonomous vehicle history. With its meticulous approach to safety and continuous technological improvements, Waymo is paving the way for a future where self-driving cars enhance road safety. However, challenges remain, including public skepticism and the need for ethical street design considerations.
**References**
- Video transcription of "Waymo's Journey: From Concept to Reality," providing insights into the development and deployment of Waymo One.
- Official statistics and reports from Waymo on autonomous vehicle performance and safety metrics.
This article offers a comprehensive look at Waymo's progress, balancing technological achievements with the challenges ahead.
"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- It's 2018, where's my self driving car.Oh, here it is.This is Waymo, but you probably know itas Google's self driving car project.Now Waymo has long been consideredthe leader of autonomous vehiclesand that's because it's beenworking on this technologylonger than any other company.It's vehicles have driven the most milesand it has the lowestrate of disengagementsor instances when humans haveto take control of the vehicleand it's all been leading up to this,a real robot taxi serviceright here in Phoenix Arizona.Waymo's been operating itself driving cars in Arizonafor about a year and a halfand during that time it's even run themwithout safety drivers behind the wheel.Waymo's cars collect a ton of dataand Waymo feeds that intoit's deep learning algorithmfor labeling and processingand this allows Waymoto deploy what it callsthe safest driver on the road.Now Waymo is ready tostart taking on passengersand create a real business for itself.It works basically the same wayas any ride sharing service.You pull out the app,you pick your destinationand hail a ride.A few minutes later one of Waymo'sself driving ChryslerPacifica mini vans pulls up.These are covered in high powered sensorslike Lidar, radar, and ultrasonicalong with a bunch of camerasto provide a full 360 degreeomnidirectional field of view.Waymo is calling it's taxi service Waymo Oneand initially we weregoing to show you a demoof the ride that we took through Chandler,but truthfully it was kindof long and kind of boring,but not entirely boring.There were these touchscreens behind the head restthat present a live view ofwhat the car sensors can see.Other vehicles are blue,pedestrians are whiteand your trip is shown as a green linethat the Waymo follows.It was pretty cool, but overallthe ride itself wasuneventful as it should be.It was like being in the back seatwith a very cautious student driver.And sometimes it wouldtake longer than usualto make a decision likethis unprotected leftinto a parking lot.Now this is gonna be acomplicated turn right here.We're taking a left hand turnacross traffic into this parking lot.So the car is sort offiguring out where it can go,when it can go, if there'sno traffic signal or signageto tell us when to go,the car needs to makethat determination itself.It needs to find that gap in the traffic.Waymo programs it'scars to be conservative,to be safe drivers.A human driver probablywould've gone right then.That might be comforting to some people,other people might findthat a little bit annoyingand would want to see the carbeing a little bit more assertiveand that's somethingthat Waymo is working on.It has been sort of tryingto develop it's software,tune it's software in a waythat the car drives moreorganically, more like a human.There were moments when the care actedmore aggressively than I expected,but it was the type of behaviorthat you wouldn't noticeif you were being drivenby a human driver.There were jerky momentssure, but it never felt unsafeand I never felt car sick for that matter.- We want a service thatbrings safety to all of roads.That's really the core missionand it's around making sure thatwe constantly are tacklingthis problem of road safety.- So the company thinks itcan build a real businessby offering a safer, more convenientand perhaps cheaperservice than Uber or Lyft.To start out with Waymo1will only be availablein a few towns around Phoenixand it'll be limited tojust a couple membersof Waymo's Early Rider Program.- For Waymo1 we'll havean itterative approachthat will start with Waymo try driversand eventually we'll take those out.- And when that happens,someone hails a care,it is possible a carwith no one inside of itmay role up to pick them up?- That's our vision, that'swhere we wanna get to.Is somebody has that space to themselves.- Waymo One will be limited toonly certain neighborhoodsmeaning it'll be geofenced,and the cars will featuresafety drivers behind the wheel.Even though the company had saidit intends to deploy fullydriverless vehicles at launch.So as you can see Waymo's approachingthis whole commercializationthing super cautiouslyand there's a good reason for that.In March 2018 a selfdriving Uber vehicle struckand killed a 49 year oldwoman in Tempe Arizona,which is just a few miles from here.The Uber crash brought thoseearly inflated expectationsabout self driving carsto a screeching halt,but in the days after thecrash Waymo's CEO John Krafciksaid that it's cars wouldhave been able to prevent it.- We have a lot of confidencethat our technology would be robustand would be able to handlesituations like that one.Cocky, sure, but now Waymohas to bend over backwardsto prove that it's carsare the safest on the roadand it needs to converta skeptical public,who just doesn't trust self driving cars.I've seen the surveys,people just don't wannaget into these cars.But how do you make people believethat a self driving car issafer than a human driven one?- One of the ways I thinkis around experience.We are working on buildingthe world's most experienced driver.We've now driven over 10 million mileson public road in autonomous mode.That really allows us tocontinue to learn new skills,vet our currentfunctionality, and test out,with the most extreme andchallenging situations.- So self driving cars are suppose to bethe future of transportation,but is the solution to allour transportation problemsreally more cars?US cities are overwhelmingly dominatedby personally owned vehicles,but that landscape is changing.Millennials want betterpublic transportationand more options to bike and walk aroundand they're gettingthat with dockless bikeand scooter programs growing like crazy.And 51% of millennials don't thinkthat owning a car is worth the investment.Just take Phoenix for example,it's the 25th mostcongested city in the USand drivers here spend 34hours a year stuck in traffic.The real danger is for peopleout walking around those carsbecause Arizona has the highestpedestrian death rate in the nation.Between 2014 and 2017, 271 pedestrianswere killed in fatal collisions.In 2018, 30 people were killed.Are self driving cars really the solution?- Driverless cars do have the opportunityto reduce traffic fatalities'cause they could reducea lot of the human errorthat leads to that, but at the same timewe don't really have anydata that supports thatjust because the number ofmiles driven by driverless carsso far is so smallcompared to the data setthat we have for human driven cars,but it also kind of side stepsone of the bigger problems,which is how our streetsare actually designedand how their designed to beunsafe for a lot of people.- So while Waymo's self driving carshaven't caused any fatal collisions,there have been reports ofsome minor fender bendersand even a few injuries,and Arizona drivers havecomplained that these carscan be a little bitannoying to navigate around.These antidotes also underscorea really important pointabout full autonomy, carsthat can drive themselvesanywhere under any conditions.That it may take decadesfor this to arrive, if ever.Even Waymo's CEO JohnKrafcik admitted this.He said that, \"Autonomy willalways have constraints.\"Driverless vehicles willneed to stay on the roadalmost around the clock to offset the costof the sensors, and thehardware, and the software,and the computer chips and everythingthat makes them drivewithout human beings.That means keeping thesevehicles on the roadfor hundreds and thousands of miles.That's a lot of drivingand while Waymo's carsmay not succumb to the samefailings as human driven onesthey'll still occupy the sameamount of space on the road.Now Uber and Lyft have been shownto increase trafficcongestion in certain cities.What will Waymo's contribution be?Well to start out, not that much.As the company eases it's wayinto becoming a real businessit's main focus is gonnabe keeping up with demand.I mean people are gonna wanna use this.This is a robot taxi service.It's the future, right?So would you ride in a self driving car?Leave us a comment in the comment sectionand if you're interested in carsor the future of transportationcheck out this awesome videothat we just did about Tesla.It's on youtube.com/theverge.YouTube, You tub.\n"
