Waymo is expanding driverless rides to freeways. Starting Wednesday, passengers in San Francisco, Phoenix and Los Angeles can get to their destinations more quickly as the self-driving company opens up freeway routes to the general public.
Waymo, a subsidiary of Google's parent company Alphabet, currently operates its robotaxi service in five cities, with several more to come. Until now, those fully autonomous rides -- which happen aboard the fully electric Jaguar I-Pace -- were restricted to surface streets, meaning potentially longer routes. But freeway trips could give passengers a more direct and speedy route to their destinations. Waymo has been testing freeway rides with employees for over a year, and in May 2024 shared an exclusive video with CNET of one of those rides in action.
Initially, only customers who've opted into early access to Waymo's latest services and features will be able to hit the freeways. From there, the capability will gradually roll out to more people taking rides with the service. You can indicate interest in being among the first to take a freeway ride in the Waymo app.
Watch this: Waymo's Driverless Cars Can Now Navigate Freeways 02:30
I took an early freeway ride last week near San Bruno to see firsthand how Waymo handles that high-speed terrain. The vehicle seamlessly navigated on and off of ramps, changed lanes and kept pace with the human-driven vehicles around us. In fact, I soon forgot I was experiencing something extraordinary, and it just felt like another standard rideshare journey.
Once the feature becomes available to you, Waymo's self-driving technology will determine the best route to your destination based on factors like congestion, timing and construction.
"If taking the freeway makes your trip meaningfully faster, that is the route that you'll be offered," Naomi Guthrie, a Waymo UX researcher, said during a briefing. "Over time, we will gradually roll this out to more and more riders across our cities."
Waymo will roll out to freeways in San Francisco, Phoenix and Los Angeles. Waymo
The unique challenges of autonomous freeway driving
Driving on freeways is technically nothing new for Waymo. In fact, it's been doing so since its earliest days, back when it was known as the Google self-driving car project.
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