After several months of testing, Waymo's self-driving cars are officially open for Houstonians to take a ride in, beginning this week.
Waymo, an autonomous vehicle company, is launching public services in Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio, following its original launch in Austin in 2025. It's also adding services to Orlando. Dozens of Waymo cars will be operating within Houston, with more to come, according to a company spokesperson.
Tens of thousands of riders in those four new cities have purportedly already downloaded the Waymo app, the company said. Beginning Tuesday, select riders will now be invited to take a ride in a Waymo. To be eligible for a ride, Houstonians can download the Waymo app and join the waiting list.
"Waymo is serving more riders than ever, as we are on track to serve over one million rides per week by the end of this year," Tekedra Mawakana, co-CEO of Waymo, said in a press release. "Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and Orlando are critical to our plans, as we lay groundwork for service in 20+ cities."
In Houston, Waymo will begin offering services within a portion of the I-610 loop, including downtown Houston, Midtown, Montrose, and the Houston Heights, totaling about 25 square miles.
"I am a big fan of Waymo and have ridden in them many times on the West Coast — it is a fun and futuristic experience," Houston Council Member Sallie Alcorn said in a statement provided by Waymo. "I’m thrilled that we are now launching limited-access public rides here in Houston. It will give both Houstonians and visitors another safe, high-tech way to get around during exciting upcoming events like the World Baseball Classic and the World Cup.”
Waymo touts its record of having traveled more than 200 million miles in its autonomous cars. Its electric Jaguar I-PACE cars use lidar — or light detection and ranging —sensors to, as Waymo says, paint a 3D picture of the car's surroundings. An onboard computer uses those sensors to navigate its route.
More than two dozen cameras are packed into the car. That includes cameras inside the car, which Waymo says are not set to record sound unless the rider allows it to do so. Waymo said it would not share that video with anyone unless it is legally required to do so.
"All of that is just for helping the Waymo driver understand the world around it during an active ride, and also that we can apply those learnings broadly throughout our fleet, as we learn from what the sensors are picking up," Mark Lewis, a Waymo spokesperson, told Houston Public Media. "But we don’t share that information, and that policy is expressed in every introduction video for a new user when they go into Waymo."
Waymo said its cars are programmed to follow the law, and since the vehicles have no driver, they do not fall victim to distracted driving. Waymo claims its cars have been involved in ten times fewer serious injury crashes and five times fewer injury-causing crashes than the average driver.
Its driverless feature also means less concern for riders about their own safety. When they arrive, Waymo cars' doors are programmed to stay locked until a rider tells them to unlock. The sensor on top of the car can also be customized to show the rider's initials, to help riders keep find their car.
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