Waymo to Experiment With Self-Driving Taxis in Philadelphia

Waymo, the autonomous ride-hailing service, plans to roll out a fleet of taxis for driverless testing in Philadelphia.

According to Action News 6 Philadelphia, Waymo said its driverless cars will appear in neighborhoods ranging from North Philly to University City. They'll also operate on the city's freeways.

The vehicles will have specialists operating them during the test period.

But don't look to hail one of these self-driving vehicles anytime soon. Waymo is using the testing period to allow the vehicles to "learn" a city's streets and its traffic conditions. Once the training period has been completed, Waymo will enable the cars to begin driving autonomously.

According to Waymo spokesperson Ethan Teicher, the company is including Philadelphia in its Northeast services testing, along with Boston and New York City. Waymo has seen “great progress” in developing the vehicles' ability to drive safely in winter weather. Experts studying the vehicles say that the Northeast presents distinct challenges for self-driving cars. They believe that having data from all four seasons is essential before allowing the cars to accept paid passengers.

A CBT News report explained that Waymo's autonomous vehicles use cameras, radar, and lidar, along with AI technology and machine learning, to survey their environment, anticipate roadway users' behavior, and navigate the vehicle in real time. 

To operate autonomously, vehicles must first map the areas they'll serve. This mapping enables the car to utilize at least one sensor stream, allowing it to operate in various weather conditions. Waymo's next-generation technology strives to push the “cutting-edge capabilities and boundaries of AI even further,” according to a Waymo document dated Oct. 31, 2024.

Autonomous vehicle experts stress, however, that winter weather, black ice, low sun angles, snowdrifts, and other road hazards create obstacles for systems that rely on multiple sensors. The time required for data comparison can delay the vehicles' reaction times.

Despite Waymo's testing in Philly, Pennsylvania state law requires human drivers to operate motor vehicles.