To be honest, your MesaZona blogger is none-too-thrilled over Waymo - in Chandler, Tempe or here in downtown Mesa. Robots are risky. Last year in November after the last on-the-ground stop in the Downtown Mesa Bus Tour at The Sliver Lot, yours truly was walking home when he almost got mauled-over by an over-aggressive Waymo Chrysler Pacific minivan barreling south through the Main Street/Robson intersection - was totally oblivious of pedestrians. A fast-reflex to step back fast prevented what could have been a personal catastrophe! 3 cops on homeless bike patrol had headed-off in another direction.
Wednesday of this week was the BIG MEDIA HYPE day for Waymo to announce a trial-run of its limited taxi service. (That subject was covered in an earlier post on this blog.)
Here's another report from another reporter - Aarian Marshall writing in Wired ::
" . . . So I’m here to see what happens to a place when robot cars show up, as automakers and tech companies have promised they will in the next few years. I’m looking for the first steps in a takeover likely to unroll over decades.
32 Hours in Chandler, Arizona, the Self-Driving Capital of the World
Wednesday of this week was the BIG MEDIA HYPE day for Waymo to announce a trial-run of its limited taxi service. (That subject was covered in an earlier post on this blog.)
Here's another report from another reporter - Aarian Marshall writing in Wired ::
" . . . So I’m here to see what happens to a place when robot cars show up, as automakers and tech companies have promised they will in the next few years. I’m looking for the first steps in a takeover likely to unroll over decades.
But mostly I’m bored, and I’m not the only one . . . That’s about it.
“At first, the Waymos were a novelty,” says Micah Miranda, the city’s head of economic development, sitting in front of a picture window inside a City Hall conference room. Chandler—flat, sprawling, in shades of sepia—extends out behind him. “Now they’re just white noise."