This weekend’s icy forecast will test the capabilities of Waymos and other autonomous vehicle services operating in the Atlanta metro.
A company spokesperson said Waymo is closely monitoring the conditions here and in other cities expecting severe winter weather, but as of Friday afternoon, there have been no service changes.
Waymo, which rolled out its program with Uber in Atlanta last summer, “will adjust our operations accordingly,” spokesperson Sandy Karp said.
She said riders should check the app for real-time availability over the weekend.
Three companies operate autonomous vehicle service in Atlanta — Waymo, May Mobility and Zoox.
Only Waymo operates fully autonomously. Rides in May Mobility’s hybrid Toyota Sienna minivans are accompanied by a standby operator. Zoox is in a testing phase doing mapping and data collection.
May Mobility, which offers rides through Lyft, is also taking a wait-and-see approach with the storm.
“Safety is our priority,” a company spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “We will monitor road conditions and, if needed, suspend operations until we believe it is safe to resume.”
It’s unclear what Zoox’s plans are during the winter storm. Questions to the company were not immediately answered Friday afternoon.
Waymo operates across 65 square miles inside of I-285. The National Weather Service issued an ice storm warning for the area that goes into effect Saturday afternoon. Up to an inch of ice accumulations are expected from Saturday into Monday morning.
Gov. Brian Kemp has declared an emergency and officials have asked all drivers to stay off the roads after Saturday evening.
Atlanta and other cities where Waymo operates tend to be on the warmer side, but the company has said its artificial intelligence-powered vehicles are “all-weather drivers” and have undergone extensive testing in snow and ice conditions.
“We’ve amassed tens of thousands of miles in diverse, snowy conditions,” the company posted on its blog. “This has allowed the Waymo Driver’s AI to learn from real driving experience and train to navigate a wide range of winter weather.”
In normal conditions, the company’s technology has experienced some issues, however.
Most recently, Waymo issued a voluntary software recall after six instances where the vehicles drove past Atlanta Public School buses with their stop arms extended.
Numerous videos posted to social media since they began operating in Atlanta have shown the cars getting confused, stopping in intersections or struggling to navigate construction zones. Last May, a Waymo bypassed the barricades during a Streets Alive event and drove into the pedestrian-only area.
And in San Francisco, a major December power outage resulted in many stranded Waymos that contributed to gridlocked roads, raising questions about the vehicles’ resiliency in emergency situations.
— Emma Hurt contributed reporting to this story.
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