What does "grid" have to do with anything at this point? Mapping was done a million years ago and try and see if "grid" helps you understand the lane and traffic light system in San Francisco (which tourists need to figure out in real time - they are hard enough on the locals.)
I ride Waymos in San Francisco that traverse longer twisting "two-way" roads in the San Francisco hills (look at the neighborhoods around Mount Davidson). In these cases, the road, while two way, more often than not only has space which allows a single car to pass at a time; the rest of the space is taken by cars parked on either side of the roadway. The Waymo cars. at least during my rides, handled these situations well.
While it's not Rome, the operating areas for Waymo, at least in San Francisco, are not all grids of modern wide streets either.
That’s not gonna impress me either. There were zoox cars on Lombard st in sf I think. Windy streets are not the challenge. Putting your money where your mouth is - that’s the challenge.
That seems to be thing now: get some deployed mass out there. And at this point it seems that each new city is still a significant investment (well within Waymo but still).
I'm still puzzled on why Waymo insists on not having any remote driving or any remote advising cars on where/how to get themselves out of a situation. Yes that would cost a little more - but this is early stages so it's just a little more money at this point (lol) - in exchange for avoiding embarassing PR bullshit about cars self-honking at each other or rides stuck in infinite hesitation loop or not knowing what to do when there is a traffic cone on the hood. I haven't seen any convincing arguments for not having that. Anyone heard a legitimately good tech or liability reason? I doubt I would have missed it but...
