Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) subsidiary Waymo is about to bring driverless cars to public roads for the first time -- by taking the driver out of some of its self-driving test vehicles.
Until now, all "self-driving" test vehicles on U.S. public roads (from all companies) have had human drivers at the wheel. Testing on public roads without a human driver at the ready is an important step toward building public acceptance of autonomous-vehicle technology.
But what does it mean for Waymo and its self-driving rivals?
For the first time, Waymo's self-driving test vehicles are operating without human drivers ready to take over. Image source: Alphabet.
What Waymo said: Truly driverless vehicles on public roads
The news involves Alphabet subsidiary Waymo, which is the company formerly known as the Google Self-Driving Cars Project. At a technology conference on Nov. 7, Waymo CEO John Krafcik announced that Waymo is now running test vehicles without a human driver in a designated area near Phoenix, Arizona.
That's groundbreaking news. Krafcik said that Waymo will soon break more ground: Over the next several weeks, it will invite members of the public to take trips in its fully self-driving vehicles.
The company elaborated on Krafcik's announcement in a post on its corporate blog:
After more than eight years of development, we're taking the next step toward unlocking the potential of fully self-driving technology. Starting now, Waymo's fully self-driving vehicles -- our safest, most advanced vehicles on the road today -- are test-driving on public roads, without anyone in the driver's seat. To date, Waymo vehicles have been operating on public roads with a test driver at the wheel. Now, in an area of the Phoenix metro region, a subset of our fleet will operate in fully autonomous mode, with Waymo as the sole driver.
Waymo noted that its autonomous driving system has accumulated more than 3.5 million miles on U.S. public roads since its testing began back in 2009. On top of that, it's using test software that adds a simulated 10 million miles of testing every day.
Waymo also noted that all of its current test vehicles have the backup safety systems that most experts think are required for safe autonomous driving, including backup steering and braking systems that can bring the vehicle to a safe stop if needed.
Simply put, this is a big deal.
What Waymo will get out of this
Waymo likely has several goals here:
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Giving the public first-hand experience with driverless vehicles, so as to build enthusiasm and ease concerns
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Learning how consumers interact with driverless cars, how people expect them to behave, and how they'll be used
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Signaling -- to rivals, potential partners, and potential Waymo employees -- that its technology has reached the point where it's ready for this step
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Proving to regulators (in other jurisdictions) that this kind of testing is safe