Sister company Google starts public test of self-driving cars

Google sister company Waymo starts in the American city of Phoenix with a service where users drive around in self-driving cars. It is the first time that regular users can register for a service with self-driving cars.

It is not yet a commercial offer. Waymo’s Early Riders program does not cost users any money and is primarily intended to collect information and feedback about where users are driving, how they experience rides and what buttons and controls they expect in the car, Waymo writes. In total there are hundreds of people.

Only residents of Phoenix and some surrounding cities are allowed to participate in the test. Waymo doesn’t say when it will run cars in other cities or on other continents. It is not obvious that the service will come to Europe soon, because Waymo has mainly tested and mapped American roads in recent years.

Waymo has hundreds of copies of two types of converted cars on the road. These are the Lexus RX450h and the Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid.