Waymo has been granted permission to map roads at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) through a temporary permit. This is the first step in the alphabet company’s bid to unlock potentially advantageous use cases for Robotaxis.
The temporary permit announced Monday evening by San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie began on March 14th.
Waymo vehicles are not operated autonomously at airports. Employees drive the vehicle manually to map the area. However, this permit marks the beginning of a gradual approach to Waymo, which is ultimately operating there.
“This mapping permission is an important step in providing WAYMO services to the millions of people who travel to the city each year,” according to a statement from Nicole Gavel, head of business development and strategic partnerships at Waymo. “Many of these travelers have SFO at the top of their service expansion wish list.”
The permit indicates the Waymo conversion in 2023, which failed to secure permission for SFO mapping. It also comes with some strings containing data sharing, according to the contract language seen by TechCrunch. The language could be included in future contracts with the city and the San Francisco Airport Commission, as Waymo promotes a step-by-step approach that begins with mapping, followed by autonomous testing with human safety operators, driverless testing, and ultimately commercial operations.
According to the contract seen by TechCrunch, Waymo will have to provide specific data after each mapping session per vehicle. This “data interface agreement” requires Waymo to track the vehicle as it enters the airport and exits and provides time, geographic location, identification, trip identifier, transaction type, unique driver-based identifier, and vehicle license plate number.
The agreement also prohibits Waymo from using self-driving vehicles to move commercial goods. Waymo closed its autonomous truck program in 2023, and then doubled its efforts to shut down people rather than packages. However, this language protects against future applications of commercial offerings that have raised concerns among international teamstar brotherhood.
This limit was enough to earn the blessings of Peter Finn, vice president of the Teamsters Western Region.
“We would like to thank Mayor Lurie for his leadership that brings together the parties and for creating templates for responsible implementation of new technology that take into account safety, employment and community impact,” Finn said in a statement.
Waymo escalated its efforts over a year ago to access pickups and drop-offs at SFO, according to emails viewed and reported by TechCrunch at the time.
The approval process is long and requires separate approval from the San Francisco Airport Commission. Technically, permits can be issued at airport discretion, SFO spokesman Doug Yakel told TechCrunch last year.
However, it is expected to reflect the process that SFO officials went through when Uber and Lyft first sought access over a decade ago. For now, Waymo has a temporary access agreement to map SFO Airport Roads. Waymo will ultimately require a ground transportation permit to operate at SFO, which has not been approved yet.
Source link
