Opening
Lane: Three, two, one.
Otto: You're listening to Driverless Daily. I'm Otto.
Lane: And I'm Lane. Let us see what is moving on the roads today.
Waymo's robotaxis had 95% fewer serious crashes than humans. Now it plans a fleet of 20,000 cars
Reported by r/SelfDrivingCars
Lane: Our top story, Waymo is planning to expand its fleet from 4,000 cars to 20,000 by 2027.
Lane: According to the SelfDrivingCars subreddit and the New York Post, Waymo's robotaxis had 95 percent fewer serious crashes than human drivers over 271 million miles.
Lane: An independent study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found 81 percent fewer injury crashes, and the company reports 55 fewer serious crashes in rider-only miles compared to the human benchmark.
Otto: That is a significant gap in the safety data.
Tesla's 'Full Self-Driving' beta is now available to everyone in the U.S.
Reported by Mashable
Otto: Up next, Tesla's Full Self-Driving beta is now available to everyone in the U.S.
Otto: Mashable is reporting that this rollout is now live for all users across the country.
Lane: The regulators certainly will be watching that rollout.
¡Llegamos a Madrid! Waymo is coming to Spain
Reported by r/SelfDrivingCars
Lane: Now, to Madrid, where Waymo is launching its fully autonomous ride-hailing service in Spain, starting with the Region of Madrid.
Lane: As Reuters reports, the service will begin in 2027 using electric Jaguar I-PACE vehicles.
Lane: The company is taking a phased, safety-first approach with manual driving before technical validation, noting they have already completed over 20 million trips and hundreds of thousands of commercial rides in Spain. That's from the SelfDrivingCars subreddit.
Otto: A new city means a whole new set of traffic patterns to learn.
Another wayward Waymo: Self-driving car causes chaos at Downtown Denver school
Reported by 98.5 KYGO
Otto: This just in, a self-driving car caused chaos at a downtown Denver school. That's from 98.5 KYGO.
Lane: That is exactly the kind of event that makes neighbors nervous.
Alphabet Might Use Waymo to Destroy Tesla’s First-Mover "Robotaxi Monopoly" Premium
Reported by 24/7 Wall St.
Lane: Our next story, Kodiak Driver has set a new uptime record.
Otto: Sixty-four days without a human in the cab is quite a milestone for logistics.
Otto: Up next, Alphabet might use Waymo to challenge Tesla's first-mover advantage in robotaxi services. That's from 24/7 Wall St.. https://tech-insider.org/ is on this story too.
Lane: Competition usually keeps the whole industry moving.
Minneapolis City Council fails to override mayor’s robotaxi veto
Reported by 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS
Lane: Finally, the Minneapolis City Council has failed to override the mayor's robotaxi veto. That's from 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS.
Otto: So the status quo remains for Minneapolis drivers.
Sign-off
Lane: That's all for today.
Otto: We'll see you tomorrow.