Let’s start with the answer to likely your first question of when: Getting a ride in a Waymo car with no human driver starts “very soon” within the city of Denver.
Locals have been spotting the self-driving cars roaming around town since September, when the Google-adjacent driverless company began testing and collecting 3D data of the city’s streets. Some vehicles had a person in the driver’s seat but not driving (they’re paid by Waymo during testing). Some only had passengers. And some had no one at all but the car blended with road traffic as best as a car can with more than a dozen cameras and lidar sensors on top.
“Very soon we intend to open to the public here in Denver, but I don’t have an exact date,” said Chris Bonelli, Waymo’s product communications manager based in Detroit. He was in Denver this week and invited The Colorado Sun for a ride in the new Ojai, which stopped at stop signs, paused for pedestrians and parked on the correct side of a “No Parking” sign.
Dozens of new baby-blue electric Ojai vehicles (pronounced “oh-hi,” like the California city of Ojai Mesa “known for its tranquility and relaxation, which is what we want our riders to feel,” Bonelli said) have been shuttling around Waymo employees for more than a month. Frequently, the vehicles have no humans inside. Completely empty! That’s a sure sign Denver is closer to joining 11 other cities with service, with 20 more on the way…