BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — No that's not a Google Maps car you've seen driving around Buffalo, it's Waymo.
The self-driving vehicle service has been conducting weather tests for its fleet for the past month in Buffalo.
"We want to better improve our technology by better understanding the snow, the salt on the roads," explained Ishtpreet Singh, of Waymo.
Singh gave 7 News' Michael Schwartz an exclusive overview of the autonomous vehicle. It's made by Jaguar, is fully electric and has 29 cameras on its exterior. Some of the cameras have wipers so the cameras can detect the road even in winter weather.
Waymo also uses radar panels and LIDAR, laser imaging detection, to detect the area as far as three football fields away!
The service is operating currently in San Francisco and Phoenix, and users download Waymo's app to order the vehicle to their location. They can only unlock the vehicle from their phone, and their initials appear on a screen atop the Waymo.
"Thing we’re most excited about is safety benefits that it can bring to people," said Singh. "We recognize it’s a new technology there will always need to be additional education, and additional learning. I think people always want to learn more, but always happy to be part of that effort and excited to be doing things like this here in Buffalo."
Waymo plans to bring service to Los Angeles and Austin by the end of 2024. As of now, there are no plans to operate in Buffalo.
