<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><head><meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 15 (filtered medium)"><!--[if !mso]><style>v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
w\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
.shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
</style><![endif]--><style><!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:"Cambria Math";
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:Calibri;
panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:"Calibri Light";
panose-1:2 15 3 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:Aptos;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin:0in;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Aptos",sans-serif;}
h1
{mso-style-priority:9;
mso-style-link:"Heading 1 Char";
mso-margin-top-alt:auto;
margin-right:0in;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
margin-left:0in;
font-size:24.0pt;
font-family:"Aptos",sans-serif;
font-weight:bold;}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:blue;
text-decoration:underline;}
span.Heading1Char
{mso-style-name:"Heading 1 Char";
mso-style-priority:9;
mso-style-link:"Heading 1";
font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;
color:#2F5496;}
span.EmailStyle22
{mso-style-type:personal-reply;
font-family:"Aptos",sans-serif;
color:windowtext;}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
font-size:10.0pt;
mso-ligatures:none;}
@page WordSection1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
--></style></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple style='word-wrap:break-word'><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>Not at this time. Detroit however is supposed to be getting Wamo, and once it does, I might be able to report since I do head up that way every so often from Cincinnati.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>Haylie<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'> AutonomousVehicles <autonomousvehicles-bounces@nfbnet.org> <b>On Behalf Of </b>Peter Donahue via AutonomousVehicles<br><b>Sent:</b> Tuesday, November 18, 2025 5:41 PM<br><b>To:</b> 'autonomous Vehicles Discussion' <autonomousvehicles@nfbnet.org><br><b>Cc:</b> pmdonahue2@gmail.com<br><b>Subject:</b> Re: [AutonomousVehicles] : [Tech-VI] My first ride in a self-driving car<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Hello Haylie,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'> Do you live in a city where ARS, (Autonomous Rideshare) is available? With ARS available in Austin and coming to Dallas next year perhaps it will be a matter of time before ARS arrives in the Alamo City. That will be a great day. Thanks for the heads-up about Nashville.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Peter Donahue<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'> AutonomousVehicles <<a href="mailto:autonomousvehicles-bounces@nfbnet.org">autonomousvehicles-bounces@nfbnet.org</a>> <b>On Behalf Of </b>Haylie Gallacher via AutonomousVehicles<br><b>Sent:</b> Tuesday, November 18, 2025 4:02 PM<br><b>To:</b> 'autonomous Vehicles Discussion' <<a href="mailto:autonomousvehicless@nfbnet.org">autonomousvehicless@nfbnet.org</a>><br><b>Cc:</b> Haylie Gallacher <<a href="mailto:haylieg2780@gmail.com">haylieg2780@gmail.com</a>><br><b>Subject:</b> Re: [AutonomousVehicles] : [Tech-VI] My first ride in a self-driving car<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>Just an FYI. Lyft will also have a partnership with Wamo in 2026. They are starting in Nashville. Link is below.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><a href="https://investor.lyft.com/news-and-events/news/news-details/2025/Lyft-and-Waymo-Launch-Partnership-to-Expand-Autonomous-Mobility-to-Nashville/default.aspx">https://investor.lyft.com/news-and-events/news/news-details/2025/Lyft-and-Waymo-Launch-Partnership-to-Expand-Autonomous-Mobility-to-Nashville/default.aspx</a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>Haylie<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'> AutonomousVehicles <<a href="mailto:autonomousvehicles-bounces@nfbnet.org">autonomousvehicles-bounces@nfbnet.org</a>> <b>On Behalf Of </b>Peter Donahue via AutonomousVehicles<br><b>Sent:</b> Tuesday, November 18, 2025 4:16 PM<br><b>To:</b> <a href="mailto:autonomousvehicles@nfbnet.org">autonomousvehicles@nfbnet.org</a><br><b>Cc:</b> <a href="mailto:pmdonahue2@gmail.com">pmdonahue2@gmail.com</a><br><b>Subject:</b> [AutonomousVehicles] : [Tech-VI] My first ride in a self-driving car<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Good afternoon everyone,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Here is an example of what I hope to see more of on this list in addition to the posts Cornelius puts up here regularly. All of this information is great but realWorld experiences of blind AV passengers will make this list even better. The story below gives us information as to what to expect from the Uber/Wamo partnership when using Autonomous Vehicles in Austin.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Peter Donahue who wants to see autonomous rideshare (ARS) services come to San Antonio.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'> <a href="mailto:tech-vi@groups.io">tech-vi@groups.io</a> <<a href="mailto:tech-vi@groups.io">tech-vi@groups.io</a>> <b>On Behalf Of </b>David Goldfield via groups.io<br><b>Sent:</b> Tuesday, November 18, 2025 12:49 AM<br><b>To:</b> stv <<a href="mailto:tech-vi@groups.io">tech-vi@groups.io</a>><br><b>Subject:</b> [Tech-VI] My first ride in a self-driving car<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><p>Even Grounds - Sunday, November 16, 2025 at 10:28<span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>\u202f</span>AM<o:p></o:p></p><h1>My first ride in a self-driving car<o:p></o:p></h1><p>For the last three years I\u2019ve been trying to figure out how to get into a self-driving car. Each time I was in a city, it was either cancelled for the time being, the app didn\u2019t work, etc. I even thought about flying across the country to try it out, but there was always a reason why it didn\u2019t happen. Until recently, when I attended the Blind Travel Summit in Austin where I could set Uber to accept autonomous vehicles, and I got it for the second time.<o:p></o:p></p><p>At this point, this shouldn\u2019t be news, and originally I didn\u2019t even consider writing about it, many people did already, and my experience is no longer a novelty. Except, I found a few issues that could be interesting, especially as it is integrated with Uber.<o:p></o:p></p><p><span style='border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in'><img border=0 width=480 height=640 style='width:5.0in;height:6.6666in' id="Picture_x0020_3" src="cid:image001.jpg@01DC58C4.D56D32D0" alt="Image removed by sender. self-driving car, car without driver"></span><o:p></o:p></p><p><@\u2013more\u2013><o:p></o:p></p><p>In most cities where Waymo is available, one has to use the Waymo app, which is made quite accessible, and there are many instructions and documentations on how to use it before you would actually call a car.<o:p></o:p></p><p>Not so with Uber. Under the settings, you have to check that you are willing to accept autonomous vehicles. Unfortunately, it is only possible once you are in Austin inside the region where these cars are available, so I was not able to explore the settings before the trip, if there were any. But this was all. I checked the box, and waited patiently until the system throws a self-driving car at me.<o:p></o:p></p><p>It happened on the first morning in Austin when we called an Uber from the hotel to the School for the Blind where the conference took place, which was about a 20 minutes ride. After I scheduled the trip, I got a message that an autonomous vehicle was assigned to me and if I wanted to accept it. I did not take notes so I don\u2019t have the exact wording and messages. So, I accepted it. Then another message came up, if I would like to use bluetooth to automatically unlock the car when it is nearby. I thought it was a good idea at the time, so I set it. In a few minutes I received a notice that my car was nearby. At this point, I couldn\u2019t quickly figure out where, since I didn\u2019t have an opportunity to understand how the system works until I actually had to use in real life, I was worried that I will miss my ride. I did ask my daughter who traveled with me to help me understand the screen, but let me do the interaction myself so I better understand how it works.<o:p></o:p></p><p>The car was nearby, it was an easy walk. However, as I later found out, since I set to open the car using Bluetooth, one accessibility option wasn\u2019t available to me that is to press a button to hunk the car\u2019s horn so I can hear in which direction to go. Now I am not sure how to cancel this option. Fortunately my daughter found the car for us.<o:p></o:p></p><p>The rest was the experience that you probably read a lot about or have watched countless videos detailing it, you get in, there is no driver and the car gets moving when the belt is on and you press the button that you are ready. But it was still very cool. It was the experience of a lifetime.<o:p></o:p></p><p>I have a friend, who is also blind and we grew up together. During the summers, we spent countless nights, to talk about an automatic car we will have when we grow up that can take us everywhere and we don\u2019t have to drive. Now I find it interesting that amongst all unrealistic options at the time, we fantasized about a self-driving car, and not being able to see instead. But it was our dream for many years, and I just thought about it in the car, and I sent my friend a voice message from the car telling him that our dream has come true in some way and that I am experiencing it.<o:p></o:p></p><p>It is one thing to read about it, or hear other people\u2019s stories and to be there and know that it is reality, and we are not far from the day when it doesn\u2019t have to be a local Uber ride, but it could be our car in our garage that can take us anywhere.<o:p></o:p></p><p>Once we arrived, we got the announcement, and learned that we were dropped off at the other side of the street. From the accessibility point of view it wasn\u2019t the best thing, of course one can figure out how to cross the street downtown in a big city, but it actually proved to be more complicated than I thought. With my daughter\u2019s help, we found out that we had to walk down two blocks to find an intersection with a traffic light to cross this wide street, maybe it could have been faster going the other direction. But regardless, even if I could have found it myself using GPS apps, if I were to make the experience more accessible, I would have tried to find an alternative to be dropped off at the same side, or even near the building where I don\u2019t have to cross a major highway, which was possible when we got dropped off by a human driver the previous day.<o:p></o:p></p><p>Overall, the experience was quite usable, mostly accessible, and definitely something I would use again. However, I wish they allowed using the Waymo app in Austin, or Uber put more effort into making the experience more friendly for visually impaired users, because it is mostly lacking on the digital side, they already solved the self-driving problem.<o:p></o:p></p><div id=bshare-social><div><p class=MsoNormal> Facebook <o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal> Instagram <o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal> Linkedin <o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal> Pinterest <o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>All share <o:p></o:p></p></div></div><p><a href="https://evengrounds.com/my-first-ride-in-a-self-driving-car/">https://evengrounds.com/my-first-ride-in-a-self-driving-car/</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>David Goldfield,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Blindness Assistive Technology Specialist<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>If you need help using your assistive technology learn about my training services by visiting<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:black'><a href="http://www.screenreadertraining.com/">WWW.ScreenReaderTraining.com</a></span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Am Yisrael Chai<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The Nation of Israel Lives!<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:black'><a href="https://www.freedomscientific.com/Training/Certification/">JAWS Certified, 2022</a></span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:black'><a href="https://certification.nvaccess.org/">NVDA Certified Expert</a></span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Subscribe to the Tech-VI announcement list to receive news, events and information regarding the blindness assistive technology field.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Email: <a href="mailto:tech-vi+subscribe@groups.io">tech-vi+subscribe@groups.io</a><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:black'><a href="http://www.davidgoldfield.com/">www.DavidGoldfield.com</a></span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:white'>_._,_._,_<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><hr size=1 width="100%" align=center></div><p class=MsoNormal>Groups.io Links:<o:p></o:p></p><p>You receive all messages sent to this group. <o:p></o:p></p><p><a href="https://groups.io/g/tech-vi/message/10708" target="_blank">View/Reply Online (#10708)</a> | <a href="mailto:tech-vi@groups.io?subject=Re:%20%5BTech-VI%5D%20My%20first%20ride%20in%20a%20self-driving%20car" target="_blank">Reply to Group</a> | <a href="mailto:david.goldfield@outlook.com?subject=Private:%20Re:%20%5BTech-VI%5D%20My%20first%20ride%20in%20a%20self-driving%20car" target="_blank">Reply to Sender</a> | <a href="https://groups.io/mt/116352686/5049908" target="_blank">Mute This Topic</a> <br><a href="https://groups.io/g/tech-vi/editsub/5049908">Your Subscription</a> | <a href="mailto:tech-vi+owner@groups.io">Contact Group Owner</a> | <a href="https://groups.io/g/tech-vi/leave/8954161/5049908/1161414706/xyzzy">Unsubscribe</a> [pmdonahue2@gmail.com]<o:p></o:p></p><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:white'>_._,_._,_<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div></body></html>