Waymo takes step toward deploying autonomous vehicles in Chicago

Waymo’s self-driving vehicles are hitting Chicago streets — but with human drivers, for now.

The company, a subsidiary of Google’s parent Alphabet, said that human drivers on Wednesday began driving its vehicles to help the company map the city "to lay the early groundwork for operations in Chicago."

The cars will be used east of the Kennedy and Dan Ryan expressways, from the South Loop to Wrigleyville. A timeline for the test wasn’t provided.

“We are excited to begin laying the early groundwork for our ride-hailing operations in Chicago, and look forward to serving the city in the future,” the company wrote on its blog.

Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office says the city was given a heads up. The Chicago test comes a day after the company announced it was dispatching its robotaxis in four more cities in Texas and Florida.

“As of now, autonomous vehicles have not been authorized within the City of Chicago or the State of Illinois,” Johnson’s office said in a statement. “The City looks forward to engaging with commuters, workers, transit advocates and industry leaders as we pursue constructive dialogue with our partners in Springfield and an equitable path forward.”

State Rep. Kam Buckner, D-Chicago, has filed a bill in Springfield to allow autonomous vehicles to be tested in Cook County.

"This progress is a vital step toward safer streets and more accessible transportation for all our neighborhoods," Buckner was quoted as saying in a statement from Waymo.

The company has touted the service as a way to combat drunk driving and give autonomy to epileptic residents who can’t drive.

Buckner didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Waymo’s robotaxis have experienced problems that have triggered community backlashes and regulatory inquiries.

Last year in San Francisco, a Waymo robotaxi ran over and killed a 9-year-old cat beloved around its neighborhood. Many of the self-driving vehicles later contributed to traffic jams during an extended power outage when they stalled at intersections with darkened traffic signals. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating complaints in Austin, Texas, about Waymo robotaxis operating unsafely around school buses carrying children.

While Waymo was first granted California permits in 2018, the West coast state rewrote some of its laws earlier this year after police in San Bruno, south of San Francisco, tried to ticket a self-driving vehicle for an illegal U-turn earlier this year. The police department said in a social media post that officers stopped the vehicle, but did not write a ticket as their “citation books don’t have a box for ‘robot,’” opting instead to contact Waymo about the “glitch.”

Christina Whitehouse, founder of the cyclist advocacy group Bike Lane Uprising, said the company started off on the wrong foot by unloading its initial fleet in a bike lane, per videos posted to social media.

“It shows they didn't put any effort into how they're going to be running this, and they'll do whatever they want while they're here,” Whitehouse said.

She had a list of concerns, namely “opaque” operations and reporting, worrying that more cyclists could be hit with less accountability. A California cyclist is currently suing the company after a passenger opened the door after the vehicle parked in a bike lane, hitting the cyclist and throwing her off her bike, only to be hit by another Waymo vehicle that was pulling over to drop off a passenger.

California’s DMVs have been regulating the company’s vehicles for eight years. But the state's regulations for robotaxi companies say they only have to report crashes during testing, which must be reported within 10 days, and an annual report on “disengagements,” or when a human driver manually takes over the car. Revisions to the rules are expected later this year.

Cost is another question.

Data from Obi, a rideshare price comparison company, found that Waymo rides were an average of 12.7% more expensive than an Uber and 27.3% more expensive than a Lyft. However, the price gap is smaller for shorter rides — all of which are more expensive than the city’s transit system, which Whitehouse worried would lose legislative attention or resources to a “new and shiny distraction.”

“It would be great if we could put this energy into the public transportation system,” Whitehouse said. “It has been put on the backburner for so many years, and (public transportation) has the opportunity to be great, accessible and affordable for people. … It would be great if we had working elevators at our CTA stations.”

Contributing: Associated Press