Waymo To Test Driverless Cars In Santa Monica: Report

SANTA MONICA, CA — Waymo's self-driving cars will soon ditch human safety drivers and will begin running as fully autonomous cars in Santa Monica in the coming weeks, Forbes reported on Monday.

These Santa Monica trials will serve as the initial test of the new development before expanding into Los Angeles, Waymo's chief safety officer Mauricio Peña told Forbes. Waymo first came to L.A. last October to begin their testing only carrying Waymo employees, with the goal of eventually providing a paid ride service to the general public.

There is no timeline for when the public can expect to hitch a ride in the self-driving cars and the company is blocked from launching the service to the public until the California Department of Motor Vehicles issues them a permit to allow the rides.

Waymo cars are equipped with cameras, lidar and other sensors to navigate the city, which was 3-D mapped in 2019 during a study of LA's congestion in high-traffic areas. So far, Waymo runs 24/7 fully autonomous commercial rides in Phoenix and San Francisco with the goal to add LA to that list eventually.

According to Forbes, a test run in the Waymo cars this month showed improvement over earlier rides with no hard braking or overly cautious left turns. Forbes said the cars still operate with excessive caution that irritated other drivers who weren't interested in driving as cautiously.

Read more from Forbes: Waymo’s L.A. Robotaxi Fleet Is Going Fully Driverless