Starting Thursday, a mixed fleet of its Jaguar I-PACE and Zeekr RT vehicles will be visible on Minnesota roads, already with an emphasis on safety as winter looms.
MINNEAPOLIS — Waymo, the autonomous ride-hailing company, is officially coming to Minneapolis, making it the sixth city in the U.S. to utilize its self-driving technology.
"Waymo is excited to lay the early groundwork for our fully autonomous ride-hailing service in Minneapolis," a Waymo spokesperson told KARE.
The spokesperson said starting Thursday, a mixed fleet of its Jaguar I-PACE and Zeekr RT vehicles will be visible on Minnesota roads, joining Atlanta, Austin, Los Angeles, Phoenix and San Francisco.
Waymo claims that despite the lack of a human behind the wheel, its vehicles have actually made roads safer.
Compared to traditional driving, Waymo said the "Waymo Driver" has experienced 11 times fewer serious injury crashes; five times fewer crashes with airbag deployment; and five times fewer injury-causing crashes — based on data from 96 million rider-only miles without a human driver since June.
Additionally, the company's spokesperson said officials have already done their research about how well the unmanned vehicles will operate through Minnesota's sometimes unpredictable — often extreme — winter weather conditions.
"To prepare for Minneapolis’ winter weather, we’ve made great strides in our efforts to operate in heavier snow — including testing in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, California’s Sierra Nevada, and Upstate New York," the spokesperson said.
"We continue to validate our sixth-generation Waymo Driver, which leverages Waymo's AI and robust cleaning mechanisms to sustain fully autonomous operations in snow and ice.
A statement from the company added, "The Waymo Driver is designed to follow the rules of the road, and it is never tired, impaired, or distracted."
"Sleet or shine, our technology is making roads safer where we operate, and we share a desire for safe transportation options with the Minneapolis community," the spokesperson said.
According to Waymo, its software works by using "advanced ML and AI techniques" in tandem with its lidar, radar and cameras to a "highly detailed image of the world around the vehicle."
Waymo announced at the same time it expands into Minnesota, plans are also in the works to introduce its self-driving fleets to New Orleans and Tampa.
Those interested in using the service can download the Waymo app for both Apple and Android now.