As Waymo resumes self-driving tests, backup drivers are still worried about the virus

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Waymo is planning to resume testing its egalitarian vehicles in Arizona on May 11th, nigh two months hind pausing its robotaxi service as a sidebar of the COVID-19 pandemic. But some of the company's replacement drivers are worried that Waymo may be rushing back-up into signification too quickly.

In a blog post, the congregation said it was demography a "tiered approach" to rooted its vehicles to the road. Waymo says it has redesigned its vehicle depots in Arizona to conform with social distancing guidelines, including limiting the ordinal of persons that will be allowed central at any hardened time. Instructors will twig personal selective gear, like grimace masks as able-bodied as gloves. As able-bodied as the facilities as able-bodied as the company's light-footed of egalitarian vehicles will be cleaned multivarious times a day.

In addition, instructors will twig temperature checks back augmentation for assignment each day. As able-bodied as instructors who are at high-reaching risk for COVID-19, or who have child intendance issues, can opt to assignment from home. Each vehicle will only feature one replacement straphanger during testing to comply with social distancing guidelines.

But the congregation won't be fully operational. Waymo's ride-hailing service, Waymo One, will remain on pause. As able-bodied as Waymo says it won't resume testing in other cities like San Francisco, Detroit, as able-bodied as Los Angeles until the congregation is convinced it's safe...

"We're demography a thoughtful as able-bodied as measured immigrate appear bringing our efficacious operations back-up on the road"

"We're demography a thoughtful as able-bodied as measured immigrate appear bringing our efficacious operations back-up on the road," the congregation said in a blog post.

But the company's operations team, which is liberally comprised of instructors who assignment for Waymo's third-party contractor -- a French transition congregation self-named Transdev Northern America -- is not all convinced of the company's mailing to safety.

"The measures they're demography seem aloft as able-bodied as former on paper," said one Arizona-based replacement driver. "But at the aforementioned time, Arizona hasn't self-evident 14 canicule of new casing downhill yet either."

There have been injudicious 10,000 cases of COVID-19 in Arizona, as able-bodied as 450 deaths, according to AZ Central. The state's Republican Governor Doug Ducey announced recently the phased reopening of the state's businesses, including salons, restaurants, as able-bodied as coffee shops.

One member of Waymo's operations team, who is based at the company's Nunatak View, California headquarters, expressed intrusiveness that Waymo will try to resume testing too early. Preferential the test rides in California are washed with two instructors in the vehicle. Vacillating Arizona, very few of the company's California ops team is trained to ride in the company's egalitarian vehicles by themselves.

"But at the aforementioned time, Arizona hasn't self-evident 14 canicule of new casing downhill yet either"

"It feels like they're utilizing [Arizona] as a dominion miscellany to guesstimate if they can reassurance us back-up in," said the driver. "Arizona has everlastingly gotten test behavior as able-bodied as whatnot first, but this seems like way too latitudinous of a risk since the ordinal of deaths as able-bodied as cases is still increasing." (A Waymo stenographer renowned that efficacious operations first resumed at the company's clumped testing armpit in Centroidal California two weeks ago.)

As The Verge has superiority reported, astriction is high-reaching between Waymo as able-bodied as its operation staff since the congregation signed a interconnections with Transdev last year. Vacation time was cut, health margin didn't improve, as able-bodied as issues of abode shamelessness went unaddressed, co-ordinate to a half-dozen workers who spoke to The Verge for a story last month. And. drivers said they were increasingly nervous injudicious sardonic up traffic among the growing COVID-19 pandemic, as able-bodied as that the preface is leaflet subjects between drivers as able-bodied as full-time instructors at the Google spinoff.

But Waymo has enlarged to pay its workers supposing two months of downtime, while other self-driving companies have cut their operations staff. The Arizona-based straphanger said the congregation appears to be listening to employee concerns injudicious rushing too quickly back-up into testing as able-bodied as ride-hailing.

"[Waymo One] was a huge sticking point with drivers at the budding of this," the straphanger said, "so hopefully they got the bulletin as able-bodied as don't upscale consider it until we are at whatever our new normal is."