Robot Taxi Waymo One earned as a commercial transport network
About Waymo did not write and did not speak just lazy. It’s no joke - robotaksi, which can deliver people in automatic mode. For several years, developers have been testing the service, but now it has finally begun work. True, still with a man behind the wheel - for now, without a security operator, this is the title of this post, you cannot ride on the roads.
At first, the Waymo will only bring passengers who participated in the service test. Then the transport network will be available to everyone. At the forefront of the company puts the safety of passengers and road users - so everything does not develop too quickly. But the main thing that develops.
It is worth noting that the Waymo business model does not represent anything outstanding. More precisely, the model is good, but it almost repeats what Lyft and Uber offer. To call the vehicle you need to download the application. Then everything is the same as what Uber and Lift offer. When you specify the desired place of "delivery" application shows the approximate cost.
Rates are based on the time it takes to travel and distances. In principle, there is nothing particularly different from those services that are already running. Waymo has “desired” passenger pick-up points, where the probability of getting a vehicle is maximum.
After the robot has arrived, the passenger sits down and pushes the “start travel” button. The button is located on a special panel.
If necessary, you can get help right in the car by clicking the appropriate button. You can also contact an employee of the company using the application.
Behind the robot there are touch displays that show the process of moving. Passengers can choose from two different types of path displays. One of them is a regular map showing the location of the car on the map. The second - a demonstration of the road, cars and surrounding objects.
The second option is added so that the passenger sees what surrounds the car and can be sure that she is going the right way.
What awaits service ahead? It is hard to say. Probably, it will attract a certain amount of customers with its adaptability. At the moment, Waymo One is a robot with the maximum number of integrated technologies. There are startups that are currently testing their own services, but there are not so many of them, and the coverage of such services is minimal. The company's closest competitors, including GM's Cruise, Ford's Argo, are far from being launched - they still have 1-3 years to this point. And Waymo is already working.
The service was the first because Google, which is behind Waymo, started working on robots 10 years ago - before almost all other companies, including transport. Soon, Waymo One plans to start work in other cities and states, if all goes well in Phoenix. True, it will not be possible to expand quickly, since the training of “security operators” is a costly and slow process.
