Waymo gets California green light for public driverless tests

Waymo has been granted a licence to test fully-driverless cars on public roads in California. It is the first company to be given the green light for such trials in the state – and it means there will be no test driver sitting in the driver’s seat. The permit includes day and night testing on city streets, rural roads and highways with speed limits of up to 65mph. Waymo insists: “Our vehicles can safely handle fog and light rain, and testing in those conditions is included in our permit. We will gradual
November 2, 2018 Read time: 2 mins
8621 Waymo has been granted a licence to test fully-driverless cars on public roads in California.


It is the first company to be given the green light for such trials in the state – and it means there will be no test driver sitting in the driver’s seat.

The permit includes day and night testing on city streets, rural roads and highways with speed limits of up to 65mph.

Waymo insists: “Our vehicles can safely handle fog and light rain, and testing in those conditions is included in our permit. We will gradually begin driverless testing on city streets in a limited territory and, over time, expand the area that we drive in as we gain confidence and experience to expand.”

The California Department of Motor Vehicles (3785 DMV) licence gives the company permission to drive in the Bay Area between San Francisco and San Jose, near where Waymo has its HQ.

It includes parts of Mountain View, Sunnyvale, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills and Palo Alto.

In a %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 link-external statement false https://medium.com/waymo/a-green-light-for-waymos-driverless-testing-in-california-a87ec336d657 false false%>, the company says: “Mountain View is home to more than a dozen autonomous vehicle companies, and has supported safe testing for years. Prior to expanding the territory for driverless testing, we will notify the new communities where this expansion will occur, and submit a request to the DMV.”

Waymo was given a licence for similar tests in Phoenix, Arizona in 2017. The first riders in the Bay Area cars will be Waymo staff – but, as in Arizona, Waymo plans to have an %$Linker: 2 Internal <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 4 30764 0 link-external early rider programme false /sections/nafta/news/waymo-announces-early-rider-program/ false false%> in California to “create opportunities for members of the public to experience this technology”.

Urban Traffic Control

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • London comes first for public transport but suffers from congested roads, says Here Technologies
    November 30, 2018
    London has the best public transport system in the world - but the UK capital’s roads are among the most congested, says a new report. Here Technologies’ Urban Mobility Index ranked transit efficiency in 38 cities based on their public transport frequency, density and coverage as well as how public transport performs against car speed. Just behind London are Zurich, Toronto, Washington, DC and Stockholm. However, London was ranked 34th for congestion. The top five least-congested cities are: H
    Read More
  • ADN says Bled will improve public transit efficiency
    April 23, 2019
    ADN Mobile Solutions has developed Bled, a technical solution which – in conjunction with bespoke training and gamification tools – is designed to help bus drivers improve their driving efficiency. The goal is to reduce public transit emissions and provide cost savings, monitoring the way that vehicles are driven, and picking up on activities such as sharp braking or acceleration, giving personalised recommendations based on driving context. Electronic and mechanical data from buses is analysed and presente
    Read More
  • Ola brings ride-sharing service to three cities in New Zealand
    November 9, 2018
    Indian ride-sharing firm Ola has expanded its service to three cities in New Zealand and is offering passengers 50% discounts off journeys for the first month. The company says its app comes with safety features which will allow riders in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch to share location coordinates with friends, family and emergency services. Passengers can also be picked up from Auckland and Wellington airports. Ola says it intends to improve the app based on customer feedback. It can be downl
    Read More
  • Car2Go launches e-car rental service in central Paris
    January 17, 2019
    Daimler subsidiary Car2go has made its electric car rental service available to Parisian users in a 77km square area within the city’s Périphérique motorway. Drivers are charged between €0.24 to €0.34 per minute depending on the location and time of the rental, and can charge the vehicles at around 1,100 charging stations in the French capital. The details flesh out Car2go’s announcement last year of plans to deploy 400 electric Smart EQ Fortwo vehicles in the city. The company intends to add more ve
    Read More

Highlighted Content