No Slowing Down Google in Driverless Cars - Driverless Transportation

Burney Simpson

I guess they’re serious.

Google has been busy, expanding into new cities, putting more miles on its test SUVs, and trying new ideas internationally. The firm that energized the whole concept of driverless vehicles is showing no let-up.

Google began the summer by reporting it had driven its test vehicles more than 1.7 million miles, with 1 million of those driven by the vehicles themselves, according to Chris Urmson, director of the project. Shortly after Urmson’s announcement, a Google koala vehicle was in an accident, bringing the total to a dozen accidents since testing began. Google continues to insist that its vehicles have not caused the accidents.

Google has expanded its test of its Lexus SUVs to neighborhoods near downtown Austin, Texas because, it says, it wants to test in different environments from its Mountain View Calif., home. According to Gizmodo, Google received permission from the governor, the Texas DOT and the local police for its test.

When was the last time a Google millennial was in Godforsaken Aurora, Illinois?

The expansion prompted followers to suggest about 1,000 other areas for testing but let’s face it, if you want to prove this is going to work you’ve got to get out of hipstervilles like the home of SXSW. Put the vehicle on the streets of godforsaken Aurora, Ill., with its bleak November rain and January wind chill of 30 below.

When was the last time a Google millennial was in Aurora?

COMMUTING APP

In a related move, Google is trying out a ride-sharing project in Israel, launching RideWith that uses the navigation application Waze that Google bought a few years ago, according to Haaretz.

The service is designed to match up Israeli drivers and riders for their work commutes. Users must have an Android phone and the app to sign up for the service, entering the addresses of their home and business and planned time of travel.

The rider pays some kind of fee to the driver for each ride based on mileage and maintenance though RideWith is not intended as a money maker for the car owner.

Haaretz stresses the project is not a ride service like Uber, the one-time Google friend that is shaping up as a major foe. Instead, RideWith is more a friendly way for folks to share rides, get some cars off the road and lower commuting expenses for the driver.

We’ll see.