In a recent Forbes article, David Margines (Waymo product manager for mapping) asks if the traffic congestion in Los Angles is different than the congestion experienced in San Francisco. This is important for Waymo to understand as the company rolls-out its autonomous taxi service beyond the Phoenix area in more diverse environments. It’s interesting to note that Waymo is first mapping the LA area specfically for the needs of self-driving vehicles, which are much different mapping requirements than the Google Maps data that already exists for much of the world. It’s also notable that Waymo is working with the LA Department of Transportation to help the company understand how being connected to city infrastructure might also improve the performance of the autonomous taxi service. In a prior post, I noted that Waymo’s valuation had been cut by Morgan Stanley due to a view that Waymo’s autonomous service might take longer to deploy than originally expected. While that might be true, it seems like Waymo continues to move ahead with Waymo’s autonomous taxi service development and deployment. While many believe autonomous vehicles will never be sophisticated enough to be deployed, or will only be deployed many years from now, the investments in the space from companies like Waymo suggest otherwise.
Waymo Takes on LA to Understand Congestion
