Google’s driverless vehicle sister company Waymo plans to start testing its fully autonomous vehicles with no human safety driver on freeways in the San Francisco Bay Area this week.
The website Tech Crunch reports that Waymo employees will use the vehicles, and initial testing will start outside rush hour with “less than a handful” of vehicles.
Waymo got the approval from California regulators to charge for autonomous rides on the freeway back in March, so this is a step toward achieving that.
Tech Crunch adds that the move comes as Waymo — flush with an additional $5 billion investment from parent company Alphabet — pushes to expand in San Francisco. Last week, it added 10 square miles to its robotaxi service area to include cities surrounding the city, including Daly City, Broadmoor and Colma.
(Picture – Waymo)
