Valley Metro experiments with driverless cars through Waymo partnership

Jessica Boehm | The Republic | azcentral.com

Show Caption Hide Caption Waymo's fully self-driving cars are here Google's Waymo shows off their self-driving car technology in an advertisement. Video credit: Waymo

Want to take the bus or light rail to work but live too far from the nearest station? Valley Metro hopes driverless cars could soon fix your conundrum.

Metro Phoenix's transit agency and Waymo, Google's self-driving car project, launched a first-of-its-kind partnership Tuesday to experiment with how new technology can complement traditional public transit options.

The two-year pilot program will begin by connecting riders to and from light rail stops, but could also expand into Valley Metro's services for people with disabilities and seniors.

"There are people who claim that (developments) in technology and ride-share services and things like that are going to make public transportation irrelevant. Well, I don't believe that," Valley Metro CEO Scott Smith said.

Neither does Waymo, according to the company's business development officer Shaun Stewart.

"We don't see ourselves as disrupting public transportation, but seeing if we can enable it and improve the reach and the access to it," Stewart said.

Both Smith and Stewart said the pilot will work like a "laboratory." As both entities learn from initial user feedback, they will test other ideas to see how the old-school transit agency and newfangled transportation company can work together to improve access across metro Phoenix.

How will it work?

The Valley Metro Board allocated $200,000 toward the pilot program.

The program will begin with a controlled group — Valley Metro and Phoenix employees, who will use Waymo vehicles to connect them to a bus or light-rail stop that will take them to their final destinations.

Waymo and Valley Metro, through a data-sharing agreement, will analyze information about the riders' experiences and adapt. Depending on the control group's success, the "first-mile, last-mile" service is expected to expand to the general public during the pilot phase.

Smith said people are less likely to use public transportation if they cannot walk to or from the bus stop or light-rail station to their destination because it's not convenient or possible for some users to drive to a park-and ride.

But the "first-mile, last mile" service could simplify that extra burden, Smith said.

Waymo is currently only operating in select cities, including Chandler, Tempe, Gilbert and Mesa, which will limit the Valley Metro partnership to those areas. However, Waymo is expected to expand within the Valley in the coming years, Smith said.

Eventually, Smith would like to expand the autonomous technology to some of the other services Valley Metro offers, like its Dial-a-Ride and RideChoice programs, which provide additional transportation services to people with disabilities and seniors.

Other opportunities to integrate autonomous technology into public transportation could present themselves as Waymo and Valley Metro "play in the sandbox" and figure out what works for the Valley, Smith said.

'The future is closer than we think'

Phoenix Mayor Thelda Williams, who also serves as the chair of Valley Metro Rail, said the new program will set an example "for the entire nation and maybe the world."

"One thing we have always been very proud of is being innovative, creating unique partnerships — and this one tops them all," Williams said.

Valley Metro Board Chair and Glendale Vice Mayor Lauren Tolmachoff said transit is "the only mode of transportation for many, many of our citizens."

"The valley is large and getting larger so this partnership is really going to open up transit for people who don't have any way to use transit but need to use transit," Tolmachoff said.

Smith said in the not so distant future, there will be an app that allows people to plan their trips using a culmination of transportation options — Waymo vehicles, light rail, buses or bike share — but never get behind the wheel.

"That is the future and the future is closer than we think," Smith said.

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