Waymo Begins Offering Driverless Rides to the Public in Denver
Denver’s driverless future has officially arrived.
Waymo has started offering autonomous rides to members of the public in Denver, marking a major step forward after the company spent months testing its self-driving vehicles around the city.
For now, you can’t simply open the app and immediately summon a Waymo. The company is selecting riders from its existing sign-up list and gradually sending invitations as service ramps up. Tens of thousands of people have reportedly already joined the waitlist.
The initial service area covers roughly 60 square miles of Denver and includes neighborhoods such as Cherry Creek, City Park and Cory-Merrill.
Waymo began testing vehicles on Denver streets last year with human specialists behind the wheel. The city presents a particularly interesting challenge for autonomous vehicles because of Colorado’s changing weather, including snow and icy winter roads.
The company says its technology has demonstrated significantly lower crash rates than human-driven vehicles. An Insurance Institute for Highway Safety analysis comparing Waymo vehicles with human drivers across San Francisco, Phoenix, Los Angeles and Austin found the autonomous vehicles had substantially fewer crashes during the period studied.
Denver has already experienced at least one incident involving a Waymo vehicle. Last week, one of the company’s vans was involved in a three-vehicle crash near Denver Health. Waymo said its vehicle detected a pedestrian, stopped and was subsequently rear-ended. Witnesses interviewed by CBS Colorado reportedly questioned whether a pedestrian had actually been crossing at the time.
According to Denver Police, there have not been records of other crashes involving Waymo vehicles in the city.
The current rollout is only the beginning of Waymo’s Colorado plans. The company eventually hopes to expand its driverless service farther across the Denver metro area, with Denver International Airport also part of its longer-term plans.
For now, Denver residents interested in letting the car do all the driving will need to get on the list and wait for their invitation.
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