Waymo Opens Up to All Riders in Dallas

Waymo在达拉斯全面开放无人驾驶打车服务了！这标志着Alphabet旗下自动驾驶公司正式进入大规模商用阶段，达拉斯成为其第11个向公众开放的城市，此前只有约15万人能通过邀请体验这项服务。简单来说，这就是无人驾驶出租车。你只需要下载Waymo的App，就能像叫Uber一样叫来一辆Jaguar I-Pace电动车，但车里没有司机，全程靠AI自己开。目前机场和高速公路路线还暂时没开放，因为之前无人车在修路区域识别上有困难，Waymo回炉重造后才逐步恢复这些路段。对普通用户而言，这意味着又多了一个出行选择。尤其在天气多变的地区，Waymo这次还推出了第六代自动驾驶技术，专门升级了在雨雪天和弱光环境下的识别能力。不只是达拉斯，芝加哥、底特律、明尼阿波利斯等二十多个城市也在扩展名单上。随着Uber、Amazon旗下Zoox等公司也在加速布局，无人驾驶出租车正在从新鲜事物变成城市交通的一部分，未来出行将越来越像科幻电影里那样——招手即来，自己开。

Waymo on Tuesday opened its doors to all public riders in Dallas, allowing anyone in the area to hail a fully self-driving ride, albeit with some restrictions. The Alphabet-owned company began operating in Dallas with select passengers in February, amounting to nearly 150,000 people. Now, anyone can download the Waymo app and book an autonomous ride in the Jaguar I-Pace vehicles. The self-driving service won’t be open to public riders at Dallas Love Field Airport or on freeways just yet, though Waymo says it plans to open up those routes after finalizing testing. Earlier this year, Waymo paused freeway rides in other cities after some of its vehicles struggled to navigate construction zones. It began resuming those routes last week. With the Dallas launch, Waymo’s autonomous ride-hailing service is now available to the public in nearly a dozen cites. The company also operates in the San Francisco Bay Area, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Miami, Orlando, Nashville, Atlanta and Austin, and has a wait list for riders in Houston and San Antonio. Waymo is also expanding to more than two dozen other cities across the country, including locations with more inclement weather like Chicago, Detroit and Minneapolis. To handle more variable climates, Waymo is rolling out its sixth-generation self-driving technology aboard its new Ojai vehicle. The latest tech can detect more details and gauge objects in a variety of lighting and weather conditions, according to Waymo. Waymo is one of a handful of companies building out an autonomous ride-hailing service in the area. Late last year, Uber and robotaxi company Avride launched their partnership in Dallas. Amazon-owned Zoox, which currently offers rides in Las Vegas and San Francisco, also deployed its testing fleet in Dallas earlier this year, and is testing in several more locations. A little further away, Uber, Lucid Motors and autonomous driving company Nuro are testing their joint Lucid Gravity robotaxi in Houston and the San Francisco Bay Area. May Mobility also operates fully autonomous rides in Atlanta through a partnership with Lyft. Abrar Al-Heeti Senior Technology Reporter Abrar's interests include phones, streaming, autonomous vehicles, internet trends, entertainment, pop culture and digital accessibility. In addition to her current role, she's worked for CNET's video, culture and news teams. She graduated with bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Though Illinois is home, she now loves San Francisco -- steep inclines and all. See full bio The Latest from Abrar Waymo Opens Up to All Riders in Dallas Inside the Luxury Robotaxi Uber, Lucid and Nuro Are Testing Here’s Where Samsung Makes and Tests Its Galaxy Phones Before Shipping Them to You