Cnn
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Do you need an Uber? How about one without a driver?
From Tuesday, Rideshare Hailers on Uber in Austin, Texas, can call a driverless Waymo from Google's parent company Alphabet for the first time. Travelers can ride on 37 square miles in Austin, the back yard of the competitor Tesla, and in Lone Star State, who has long been a test place for driverless vehicles.
“We believe that the technology has come to technology, and so personally I believe that autonomous vehicles that come onto the market is a good thing for the world. We are happy and really excited that the autonomy is on the market and begins to scale,” said Andrew Macdonald, Senior Vice President of Mobility and Business Operations, in an interview with CNN. “If you have a supportive city, if you have a supporting local government, this promotes competition, it promotes innovation, and that is a good cause for consumers.”
It seems that there is no bad blood between the two companies. Uber and Waymo, who were once involved in a lawsuit about self -driving technology, are now partners.
“Our partnership with Uber in Austin is an exciting step to further scale our safe, comfortable and sustainable autonomous technology,” said Nicole Gavel, head of Waymo business development and strategic partnerships.
Drivers in Austin who request an Uberx, Uber Green, Uber Comfort or Comfort Electric can correspond to a Waymo vehicle with full autonomous, full-electric Jaguar-i-Pace without additional costs for up to four people.
Uber users can also increase their chances of getting a Waymo by adapting their driver settings. However, if you do not want to go driverless, the request is asked beforehand whether you have another car more of a car, said Macdonald.
Uber has previously attempted to enter the driverless market, but not on this size. In 2023, the company piled up a similar driverless start in Phoenix, Arizona.
The start between Austin and Blood to Come later this year, Atlanta will scale hundreds of vehicles in both cities in the next few years. Uber employees are already making autonomous trips in Atlanta.
“It's something new,” said Macdonald. “Both the local government and a willing consumer are needed to bring them onto the market. We have that in these two markets. ”
Uber previously had its own autonomous vehicle fleet before pandemic and later sold this fleet to another autonomous vehicle company, Aurora.
The news comes that Tesla, headquartered in Austin, has started to apply for approval in California for the provision of bicycles in California. The city has long been a test place for new technologies that attract startups and new companies and houses a Tesla pants model Y and cybertrucks.
Now Uber and Waymo come in.
It does not cost any additional to book a Waymo in Ubers app, and of course no tip is required, although the passengers can evaluate their experiences.
If a security problem occurs, the drivers have access to the Uber app around the clock. As a passenger in the app, MacDonald follows, he explained that they can request help to rotate a button. The vehicle can also feel whether there was an accident or any kind of incident.
Security was an important problem during the operation of General Motors' Cruise Robotaxi, which ultimately pulled the plug to the connector in December. The Robotaxis had a number of incidents, including one in October 2023, in which one of his self -driving taxis in San Francisco hit a pedestrian and the woman dragged 20 feet along the street.
Cruise said it would be more on functions of driver assistance than on completely autonomous vehicles.
It doesn't stop here. Uber has plans to continue and pass on his network to other cities, said Macdonald. At the moment, the focus focuses on Austin and Atlanta and what can change for the average consumer.
“We assume that this will increase the market as a whole,” said Macdonald. “This will really expand the possibilities for both human -driven vehicles in Austin and for autonomous vehicles. The market will grow. The possibilities for the general expansion of carpooling and people who perform with individual car seat are really convincing here. ”