After getting run out of Boston, Waymo has announced plans to bring its autonomous ride-hailing vehicles to two northern cities. The Colorado Sun reports that Waymo is coming to Denver, while the Seattle Times says its robotaxis will be coming to the Emerald City as well. These cities will join Los Angeles, San Francisco, Phoenix, Atlanta, and Austin.
In both cities, Waymo will take the gradual rollout approach it’s used in the past. The first step will be coordinating with local officials in the areas it intends to operate. Then its Jaguar I-Pace and Zeekr vehicles will begin scanning the area with human drivers in command. Later, the vehicles will take control under close supervision, and will only take passengers once Waymo is satisfied that its robotaxis are fully ready for Denver and Seattle.
Officials in both cities seem to welcome Waymo’s arrival. From the Denver Post:
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis both supported the local arrival of the new technology Tuesday.
“Whether they need a ride to work, school, the farmer’s market, or they’re heading out for a night on the town, Waymo is a great way for Denverites to get where they’re going safely,” Johnston said, according to a statement. “Waymo’s innovative, climate-friendly technology will make our streets safer and cleaner, and I can’t wait for my first ride.”
Seattle’s response from the Department of Transportation is cautiously optimistic, but more reserved, reports KING 5:
“The City of Seattle supports innovation that makes transportation safer, more efficient, and more accessible. Seattle has taken a smart, safety-first approach to partnering with autonomous vehicle operators and ensuring these technologies work well for everyone who lives, works, and plays here. As Waymo begins manual data collection on Seattle’s streets, we look forward to continuing these partnerships to ensure future services meet our transportation goals.
Community response is mixed. According to Denver 7, some are genuinely interested in the technology and believe in its potential safety benefits. However, taxi and rideshare drivers are concerned about losing their jobs to automated taxis like Waymo, says KING 5, as we’ve seen in other cities like Boston. Some are also concerned about how capable these vehicles will be in Denver’s snowy winter conditions.
Smooth sailing or slip sliding away?
The first few cities Waymo operated in are notable because they are all southern cities with generally good weather. It’s playing the self-driving game on easy mode, which is a perfectly reasonable way to begin. Now, with some experience under its belt, Waymo is looking to expand into more northern cities, specifically to gain experience in more challenging weather conditions.
Seattle, or any city in the Pacific Northwest, is a natural choice to test driving in rainy conditions. It averages 152 rainy days a year according to The Weather Channel, enabling Waymo to accelerate learning how to handle lower visibility and reduced traction. Waymo’s vehicles are equipped with wipers not only for the windshield, but also its various sensors to handle rain and other debris. While the fog that frequently hangs over the PNW causes visibility issues for cameras and human drivers, Waymo’s LiDAR should be able to see right through it, which is something Tesla should consider.
Denver presents an even greater challenge with snowy and icy conditions. Wipers are fine for rain, but anyone who’s driven in snow knows that ice build-up on the windshield can be an issue, and wipers can’t always deal with it. Some kind of heating element, similar to a rear window defogger, would work well here, but we don’t know if Waymo uses this. IÂ hope so, because as good as LiDAR is, ice build-up on sensors can render it almost blind.
On top of that, driving in snow is quite different than driving on dry or wet roads. Special techniques are required, which Waymo’s vehicles may or may not know. I’ve had to disable traction or stability control to allow some wheelspin to get out of sticky situations because the automated systems wouldn’t or couldn’t. Waymo is still getting stuck in Chick-Fil-A drive-throughs, never mind a couple of inches of snow, so we’ll have to see how its winter driving skills are and, more importantly, how quickly it can learn.
