US robotaxis undergo training for London's quirks before planned rollout this year

"American robotaxis due to be unleashed on London's streets before the end of the year have been quietly undergoing training to understand the city's quirks, not least the zebra crossings, their promoters said on Thursday as they showed off one of the UK-specific driverless cars for the first time. The US self-driving ride-hailing company Waymo has a fleet of about 24 cars in London, each rigged with cameras, radar and lidar (light detection and ranging) censors."

"Waymo's bosses hope the taxis will be allowed to start taking paying customers in the last quarter of this year the first rollout of the driverless technology outside the US. For the last two months the cars have been manually steered around the city to learn the nuances, learn about the zebra crossings, said Ben Loewenstein, head of EU and UK policy and government affairs at Waymo."

"So far, Waymo has operated only in Atlanta, Austin, Los Angeles, Miami, Phoenix and San Francisco, and there has been concern that London's tighter packed and often medieval streets could be much more challenging for the AI-powered technology. Zebra crossings, for example, differ considerably from cross-walks in the US. In London they are marked by Belisha beacons flashing yellow orbs on striped poles and often rely on a subtle eye contact-based interaction between driver and pedestrian about who has right of way,"

Waymo has a fleet of about 24 sensor-equipped cars in London fitted with cameras, radar and lidar. The cars have been manually steered around the city for two months to learn local nuances, including zebra crossings. Waymo aims to begin carrying paying customers in the last quarter of the year, marking the firm's first rollout outside the United States, pending government legislation permitting driverless cars on UK streets. London's tighter, often medieval streets and Belisha-beacon zebra crossings present different challenges from US crosswalks, relying on eye-contact interactions rather than stop/go lights. Waymo unveiled a Jaguar vehicle outfitted with sensing equipment at the London Transport Museum.

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