A Successful Autonomous Field Test in Phoenix
RTA members,
Last week I had the opportunity to join the annual intercity visit of the Greater Raleigh Chamber (the home of the RTA program). More than 150 travelers visited the metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona area.
During our time in the Valley of the Sun, we learned about economic growth, infrastructure, regional issues, and “more”.
In this case, “more” was a series of individually-initiated field trips on an autonomous vehicle, and by my count more than 50% of the intercity visit participants tried out an autonomous vehicle visit at some point during our time in Arizona.
Last Tuesday evening, RTA chair Sarah Gaskill and I traveled via Waymo autonomous mobility from Tempe to neighboring Scottsdale and back. While there was a steering wheel in the electric Jaguar vehicle that picked us up, there was no driver. My understanding is that Waymo uses a series of cameras, sensors, radar, etc. to detect fixed and moving surroundings, along with a processing unit and related hardware and software.
The trip, in both directions, was uneventful. And that is a high compliment. It felt natural for the entire duration of the journey.
When you are in a Waymo, the steering wheel turns when there is a turn, but there is no one driving, although it felt like there was. The vehicle accelerated, decelerated, braked, and turned appropriately. All together it was perhaps the most ordinary, sublime journey you can imagine.
“Waymo” connotes a new way forward for mobility. Did we see the future of transportation and mobility?
I believe we saw a part of it, and that future is increasingly here.
We will be talking more about mobility and innovation in early August, when Andrew Miller, Ph.D., from Toronto provides us an overview of the current and emerging mobility landscape at the RTA 2026 Transportation Brunch event. Be sure to register here.
Let’s get moving,
Joe
