Cruise Cars Appear In Phoenix
Three robotic taxi fleets are already in operation in the U.S., and while they operate with limitations, one thing is clear: the technology is here and preparations are underway to bring it step by step to other regions. A few days ago, we learned that Waymo, the Google sister company that already operates a robotic taxi fleet in Phoenix in Arizona and one in San Francisco, has dispatched its vehicles in New York City to map the city in preparation for a robotic taxi service. The Phoenix metropolitan area, which so far has been served by Waymo One in one suburb, is also seeing Waymo vehicles driving around other parts of the city, hinting at an expansion of the robotaxi service to other parts of the city.
Others are now following suit. Cruise Automation, a division of General Motors, started its robotaxi service at the same time as Waymo in San Francisco, and now the first Cruise vehicles have been spotted in Phoenix. Automotive expert Doug Lloyd posted a snapshot of a Cruise vehicle in Phoenix on LinkedIn. That suggests preparations by Cruise to also offer a robotaxi service in that city. In fact, according to internal sources, two more locations are slated to be added in 2022, where Cruise robotaxi fleets are expected to begin operations.
As has already been predicted here, three robotaxi fleets (Level 4) carrying passengers have entered service in the US this year. With this news from other cities and regions, it is now very likely that the further prediction that between 5 and 10 robotic taxi fleets will be operating in the US by the end of 2022 will be accurate.
TimelineNumber of robotaxi fleets in cities / regions2021up to 3 in the USA20225 to 10 in the USA202525 to 50 in the USA2023-2025first fleet in EuropePossible number of robotaxi fleets (without Tesla)
This article was also posted in German.
