Waymo asks for a stone, and may open the ground of the real safety-free robotaxi.
The test of driverless cars has been in full swing for several years, and has slowly landed in some scenarios (mines, parks, logistics, taxis), but it has been the presence of security personnel. This makes drones not really a “nobody”.
According to Engadget reports that Waymo’s CEO recently confirmed that Waymo’s Robotaxi service has made new progress and is trying to provide limited security without security in Phoenix, Arizona. A driver’s taxi ride. This service has not yet served all local customers.
After a month ago, Waymo said in an email to passengers that after the driver is not equipped with a trained driver, the passenger can contact the relevant person through the “help button” or the app when they need help.
Automatically driving vehicles have no way to include all traffic information in the early stage, and record possible situations. Therefore, the main function of the safety officer is to help the vehicle to make judgments in an emergency and to ensure passenger safety.
The California Public Utilities Commission report shows that as of September this year, Waymo has picked up 6,299 passengers, which is more than the number of passengers on AutoX and Pony.ai. Despite being tested for a long time, the pain point that hinders Waymo’s profitability is that the presence of security officers is contrary to Robotaxi’s commercial presence. Robotaxi’s original vision was to liberate drivers and reduce labor costs, while the cost of team training and security staff was instead. It replaced the original labor cost of the driver.
At present, companies offering Robotaxi services in the United States include a combination of BotRide and Hyundai, as well as Aptiv’s cooperation with online car giant Lyft. In China, Baidu also obtained the world’s first self-driving commercial license in Wuhan, which can not only carry manned tests, but also commercial operations.
Waymo is the first in the world to remove the security officer. Waymo’s treacherous approach to the road, and then may also stimulate the landing of the real safety-free robotaxi.
However, the outside world is still concerned about security issues. Previously, Uber had an accident in which a driverless car hit a passerby, which also made UBer’s research and development in autonomous driving stopped, and the public’s trust in autonomous driving once fell to freezing point.
How the unmanned taxis will continue to promote commercialization and gain public trust in the abolition of security officers is a question that automakers need to seriously consider after Waymo.