Waymo Autonomous Taxis

Not a personal self driving car, but an hailed auto taxi service.  Being pushed by Waymo/Alphabet (Google)  Implications for liability in use?  Would this be  an ideal use case, not owning your own car?   The initial tests seems to be considerable, but with limitations   ACM NEWS

Waymo Opens Robotaxi Service in San Francisco for Ride Hailing   By The Wall Street Journal

Waymo LLC is opening its driver-supported robotaxis in San Francisco to selected riders, an important test for the Google sister company's technology and business in a major city.

The Alphabet Inc. GOOG +0.34% unit, which has raised billions of dollars from outside investors and recently completed a leadership shake-up, has been building toward a San Francisco launch for more than a decade. It started testing its autonomous-vehicle technology in the city in 2009 and is now driving more than 100,000 miles a week. Finding success in ferrying ride-hail passengers around the city in autonomous vehicles could provide a cornerstone for a revenue-generating business for Waymo, which has racked up losses for years.

On Tuesday, the company said San Francisco residents can sign up to participate in the test program by downloading the Waymo One app. It declined to share how many riders would be enrolled or how many cars would be eligible for the service. The rides will be free for participants, who must sign nondisclosure agreements and can't bring guests on rides.

Riders selected by Waymo will be able use its app to hail a Jaguar I-Pace vehicle equipped with the company's latest autonomous technology. Drivers seated behind the wheel will assume control if the computer falters or fails to adapt to any number of unpredictable scenarios as it navigates narrow, congested streets alongside pedestrians and cyclists.

From The Wall Street Journal

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Amazon's Autonomous Robo Taxi

 Have never thought of Amazon in the autonomous vehicle space.   But here a reminder of an effort, apparently aimed at taxi service.

Amazon's Zoox shows off its first autonomous robotaxi

The tiny four-wheeled vehicle is bi-directional and has no steering wheel.

By Nathan Ingraham in Engadget

It’s been almost six months since Amazon purchased self-driving startup Zoox, and today the company pulled the wraps off its first autonomous vehicle. Rather than automating a standard car built with a human driver in mind, the Zoox robotaxi is built specifically for autonomous driving in in dense urban environments.  .. ' 

Robo Taxis are Coming

More autonomy to be seen on the roads.   How soon will we see applications in broad use?

Robotaxis get the green light for paid rides in California

The state’s public utility commission authorized two new programs to allow driverless ride-hailing

By Andrew J. Hawkins@andyjayhawk  in TheVerge  ... 

Emergence of the Drone Taxi

Now serious it seems.  First in crowded Asian cities.

Hover-taxi whizzes over Singapore, firm eyes Asian push   by Martin Abbugao in Techxplore

A drone-like flying taxi whirred over Singapore's waterfront Tuesday, with the firm behind the test hoping the aircraft will revolutionise travel in traffic-choked Asian cities.

The 18 propeller vehicle, developed by German firm Volocopter and with a pilot onboard during the test flight, took off from a promontory and flew for about two minutes and 30 seconds around the Marina Bay district.

Heavy rains in the morning almost delayed the flight, but the skies cleared in time for the battery-operated, two-seater taxi to quietly fly past skyscrapers.

While the hover-taxis—resembling small helicopters but powered by drone-like technology—can fly autonomously, there was a pilot aboard during the test for safety reasons.

Volocopter has already tested the aircraft in Dubai, Helsinki, Germany and Las Vegas but the Singapore trial is the first in the heart of a city.  ... "