Waymo Austin Staging Lot Field Report

During field work in Austin, Grayson Brulte uncovered what appears to be Waymo’s first staging lot in the city, located just across Lady Bird Lake from downtown Austin. The lot sits roughly 6.1 miles from Waymo’s main depot near Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and was observed holding approximately 30 vehicles with capacity estimated at 40–50.

Waymo vehicles enter and exit the lot fully autonomously, with the only human interaction being plugging in to charge via temporary infrastructure. Notably, no vehicle cleaning was witnessed at either the staging lot or the main depot, and dirt was visibly observed on parked vehicles.

Key Field Report Questions Answered

Field Report Topics & Timestamps

[0:00] Waymo Austin Staging Lot

We uncovered Waymo’s first staging lot in Austin, sitting just across Lady Bird Lake from downtown and roughly 6.1 miles from its main depot near the airport, putting vehicles right in the heart of the action.

[0:52] Cleaning and Charging Infrastructure

We saw cleaning supplies on site but never saw a single vehicle being cleaned, the same pattern we observed at the main depot. Power is temporary, with no permanent charging infrastructure, just a fenced lot built to charge Waymos.

[1:45] Fully Autonomous Entry & Exit

Waymos enter and leave the lot fully autonomously, with the only human touchpoint being a plug in the charging port, a step that will soon go robotic or wireless.

[2:03] Lot Capacity & Overflow Parking Condition

With the Austin skyline in view, we counted roughly 30 Waymos in Tesla’s hometown and estimate the lot can hold 40 to 50 with overflow parking. Fully charged vehicles move to a resting area to await service, and their sides tell the story, dirt.

[3:37] AUTNMY AI

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Full Field Report Transcript

Discovery of Waymo’s Austin Staging Lot

Grayson Brulte: While we were in Austin doing field work, we uncovered a Waymo staging lot. And why is this important? This staging lot is located just across Lady Bird Lake from downtown Austin, right in the heart of the action, giving Waymo the ability to get vehicles quickly into service This is Waymo’s first staging area that we’ve uncovered in Austin, and this staging area sits roughly 6.1 miles from Waymo’s main depot by the Austin International Airport. The depot by the airport is roughly 4.5 miles away from the airport. Hypothetically, vehicles could go from the main depot to the staging depot to get charged. But unfortunately, we did notice a common denominator between the big depot and the staging depot. We did not witness vehicles being cleaned. That’s right, we did not witness vehicles being cleaned. We did witness and we did see, as you can see later in the video, cleaning supplies. We didn’t see them being used. And as you can see in the video, the power, it’s temporary. There was no permanent charging infrastructure. It was merely a fenced-off lot to charge the Waymos. But it’s very similar to when we visit the Tolland Depot and other depots around the country. The Waymos enter the lot and leave the lot fully autonomously. There’s no human interaction. The only human interaction is plugging it in to charge. That’s right, you have to plug the cable in. Soon, either these cables will become robotic or they will become wireless. And there’s the Austin skyline, so you see exactly how close we are. Despite Austin being Tesla’s hometown, you can see here from the video count, there are roughly 30 Waymos sitting in this charging lot. It is our assumption, based on what we saw, and you see here in the video, this lot could easily accommodate forty to fifty Waymo vehicles at any one time because there is overflow parking. We did notice, which you will see later in the video, that Waymo vehicles that were fully charged went to a, if you wanna call it, a resting area, waiting to go out into service There’s the cleaning area Here we are. Here’s the storage area. These Waymos obviously are waiting to go out into service. Nobody’s in them yet. But look down at the sides. What do you notice? Dirt There it is The future is bright, the future is autonomous, the future is staging depots

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