Waymo scraps AV operations in Austin

Waymo is closing its operations in the US city of Austin following an increase in investment in the Detroit and Phoenix areas. A spokesperson told Austin Inno: “As a result, we’ve decided to relocate all Austin positions to Detroit and Phoenix. We are working closely with employees, offering them the opportunity to transfer, as well as with our staffing partners to ensure everyone receives transition pay and relocation assistance.” Last month Waymo sent an email to users, which appeared on Reddit, saying
November 15, 2019 Read time: 1 min

Waymo is closing its operations in the US city of Austin following an increase in investment in the Detroit and Phoenix areas.

A spokesperson told Austin Inno: “As a result, we’ve decided to relocate all Austin positions to Detroit and Phoenix. We are working closely with employees, offering them the opportunity to transfer, as well as with our staffing partners to ensure everyone receives transition pay and relocation assistance.”

Last month Waymo sent an email to users, which appeared on Reddit, saying that it may start operating fully-autonomous vehicles (AVs) in Phoenix and Arizona without a safety driver.

Earlier this year, the company entered into an agreement to deploy 10 AVs on Lyft’s platform to serve as a ride-hailing service in the Metro Phoenix area.

Related Content

  • ITS Australia Awards: finalists revealed
    November 29, 2022
    Cisco, Moovit and Q-Free are among the companies up for 13th ITS Australia Annual Awards
    Read More
  • Court rules former Uber driver was an employee
    September 11, 2015
    Ride-hailing company Uber has lost another legal round in the dispute over whether its drivers are independent contractors or employees, an issue that threatens the core of the ride-hailing company's business model, says Reuters. The California Employment Development Department (EDD) recently determined that a former Uber driver in Southern California was an employee, not an independent contractor as the company has claimed and as such was entitled to employee benefits. The decision was upheld twice on a
    Read More
  • ServCity AV project reaches final test
    February 20, 2023
    Three-year initiative in London has aimed to demonstrate practicalities of urban robotaxis
    Read More
  • AV drivers need help for safe handovers, says RAC
    July 19, 2019
    Drivers will need help preparing for unexpected situations where their autonomous vehicle (AV) hands back control, warns the RAC Foundation. RAC carried out a study in the UK with the Human Factors Research Group at the University of Nottingham on 49 people of varying ages using a driving simulator on a ‘commute-style’ journey for five days in a row. During the trial, the drivers demonstrated significant lateral movement (lane swerving) when control was handed back to them, even after being provided
    Read More

Highlighted Content