Techstination, your destination for gadgets and gear.   I’m Fred Fishkin.     The era of passengers being picked up by self driving cars…without a back up driver or attendant….has begun.   Google’s Waymo unveiled the news at this month’s South by Southwest gathering in Austin…

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The passengers…who are opting in for truly driverless rides…are in Waymo’s test market outside of Phoenix.   At Princeton University,  Alain Kornhauser, the faculty chair for autonomous vehicle engineering, calls it a very big deal…

“This is actually operating in mixed traffic, under normal operations, without police escorts.   And here we go!”

And it is just the beginning.   California is allowing truly driverless testing on public roads next month.  There’s more from Professor Kornhauser on the Smart Driving Cars podcast.

You can find us at Techstination.com.   I’m Fred Fishkin.