Autonomous tech company Waymo has been given the go-ahead to begin picking up actual human passengers in California with its self-driving cars. But before you go booking a flight to L.A. to try the next big thing, know that there’s a caveat: the state’s Autonomous Vehicle Passenger Service pilot program only permits Waymo employees and guests to use the self-driving taxis. TechCrunch confirmed the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) gavethe permit to the Alphabet-powered company, granting its employees and their lucky friends and fam to try out the vehicles (limited to the Chrysler Pacifica at the moment, but soon to include the Jaguar I-PACE) within a predetermined area of South Bay near L.A., including the neighbourhoods of Palo Alto, Los Altos Hills, Los Altos, Mountain View and Sunnyvale. “The CPUC allows us to participate in their pilot program, giving Waymo employees the ability to hail our vehicles and bring guests on rides within our South Bay territory,” a Waymo spokesperson told TechCrunch. “This is the next step in our path to eventually expand and offer more Californians opportunities to access our self-driving technology, just as we have gradually done with Waymo One in Metro Phoenix.”Quick refresher: Waymo One was a similar pilot project that launched late last year, offering free autonomous rides to a couple hundred project participants in a one-hundred-mile radius around Phoenix.Waymo is also contractually obligated to keep a human safety driver behind the wheel, both in Phoenix and California, and to offer the service for free. Sweet deal for Waymo staff. Incidentally, does anybody who works there want to be my friend? I’ve been told I make a great
Origin: Waymo gets permission to pick up California passengers with autonomous cars