AUSTIN, Texas — Autonomous vehicle company Waymo is now testing its self-driving vehicles without drivers in the front seat in Austin.
Waymo first came to Austin back in 2015, before leaving in 2019. This past year, the company has been testing its Jaguar I-PACE autonomous vehicles with drivers, but this move to test without drivers comes just a few days before South By Southwest (SXSW) kicks off.
In a statement from the company, Waymo’s Chief Product Officer Saswat Panigrahi said the company's operations in Austin come after working on autonomous vehicles for over 15 years in the U.S.
“Our disciplined deployment in Texas’ capital brings us one step closer to safely delivering the benefits of fully autonomous driving to many more people," Panigrahi said.
But some Austinites are not sold on the idea of completely autonomous vehicles, or AVs.
"It's concerning about whether they make the right decision,” Austin resident Tomas Rodriguez said. “If they make a wrong decision, they could really hurt somebody."
This move by Waymo comes just a few months after another self-driving vehicle company, Cruise, suspended its operations in Austin. That decision came after a high-profile incident in California when a Cruise AV struck a pedestrian after they were hit by a human driver and launched into the immediate path of the AV.
Some Austin City Council members have been vocal about making sure the new technology is safe in the city. But Councilmember Paige Ellis said when it comes to regulating these vehicles in the city, their hands are tied due to the Texas Legislature.
“We don't really have a lot of ability to tell them exactly how to deploy their product, where to deploy their products and how to do it the most safely,” Ellis said.
Ellis hopes that with more testing, Waymo will be more safe than other companies that have tried in Austin.
“I think we've seen companies be good players and bad players in the public space, and I'm really hopeful that everything turns out great for them,” Ellis said.
Right now, Waymo will only provide test rides to its employees. But soon, all Austinites will be able to get in the back seat.
In the meantime, you can sign up for their waitlist to be the first to take a fully autonomous ride.
The self-driving cars will operate in 43-square miles around Austin, including downtown, Barton Hills, Riverside, East Austin, Hyde Park and more. Waymo already operates in San Francisco, Phoenix and Los Angeles.
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