Waymo to test self-driving cars in the Greater Houston area

FILE - A Waymo minivan moves along a city street as an empty driver's seat and a moving steering wheel drive passengers during an autonomous vehicle ride, on April 7, 2021, in Chandler, Ariz. The U.S. government's highway safety agency has opened another investigation of automated driving systems, this time into crashes involving Waymo's self-driving vehicles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration posted documents detailing the probe on its website early Tuesday after getting 22 reports of Waymo vehicles either crashing or doing something that may have violated traffic laws. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File) (Ross D. Franklin, Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

HOUSTON – The future is coming to Houston.

According to their website, Waymo, formerly known as the Google Self-Driving Car Project, is embarking on a cross-country tour visiting more than 10 cities this year, and one of them is Houston.

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Waymo said it will have a limited number of its vehicles, but it won’t be completely self-driving.

“To get to know the city, we’ll have a limited fleet of vehicles, with trained human autonomous specialists behind the wheel manually driving through the most complex parts of the city, including downtown and freeways, to familiarize ourselves with the local environment,” Waymo explained in its news release.

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The company said this process helps expand its autonomous driving capabilities as it works toward introducing more self-driving car technology to additional cities.

So, no need to freak out, in other words.

“Like other visitors to Space City, we can’t wait to take in the sights, immerse ourselves in Houston’s distinct driving culture, and meet with locals,” Waymo’s news release concluded. “We’re also committed to being good neighbors while we’re in town — we collaborate closely with the communities and policymakers across all the cities where we drive."

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Learn more about Waymo’s self-driving cars by visiting their website.


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