Car-free Streets Alive finds unlikely sponsor in Uber and Waymo

“It just seems to go against the spirit of what I thought Streets Alive was about,” Atlanta resident Thomas Mitchell said in an interview. “It’s just incredibly disappointing.”

Streets Alive started 15 years ago and was conceived as a way to showcase an alternative to the car-centric way Atlanta was designed. During Streets Alive, blocks of streets are closed off to vehicular traffic and given over temporarily to pedestrians, cyclists, skaters and others.

Credit: Jenni Girtman

Credit: Jenni Girtman

In a statement, officials from the Atlanta DOT defended the partnership and said it aligns with the city’s efforts to make streets safer by decreasing human error.

“Autonomous vehicle technology presents a potential tool for reducing harm — particularly when designed to prioritize pedestrians and cyclists‚” the statement reads, adding that the Waymo booth planned for this month’s Streets Alive is a way for Atlantans to learn more about autonomous vehicle technology and have any questions answered.

The city reached out to Waymo in February to discuss Atlanta’s Vision Zero initiative, which aims to eliminate traffic fatalities and serious injuries. Uber and Waymo paid $25,000 for the sponsorship, funding that supports the logistics of hosting Streets Alive, the spokesperson said.

“A citywide program of this scale and impact requires public-private partnerships,” the statement said.

Questions to an Uber spokesperson involved in the Waymo partnership were not immediately answered.

Credit: TNS

Credit: TNS

Waymo’s autonomous vehicles have been testing in Atlanta for about a year and started offering rides to Uber users on an early access list earlier this year. The companies have a similar partnership in Austin, Texas, where Waymo makes up about 20% of the city’s Uber rides, according to Bloomberg.

One of Waymo’s electric Jaguar SUVs will be on display during this month’s Streets Alive on June 22 to promote “the future of transportation,” according to the event’s website.

The vehicles have a clean record since they’ve been driving in Atlanta.

Since the start of 2024 through late May, just one incident involving a Waymo was reported, according to public records previously provided by the Atlanta Police Department. In that instance, a resident simply reported their surprise at seeing one: “I was fascinated about the vehicle and began taking pictures and videos of the vehicle,” the report states.

Mitchell said he goes to almost every Streets Alive and loves the way it brings the community together. Those type of connections are hard to achieve from behind a steering wheel.

“We can actually engage directly with people and, I think, hopefully live a more fulfilling life,” he said.

Mitchell said he was surprised to see the city partner with Uber and Waymo after witnessing a Waymo intrude on last month’s Streets Alive.

The event shut down Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard and Georgia Avenue between the West End and Grant Park neighborhoods. But Mitchell said a Waymo somehow drove on one of the closed roads. At first, it was kind of funny, he said. But then it became annoying.

Atlanta police were standing around the car and wouldn’t let people pass at first, telling visitors they didn’t know what the car would do, he said. A biker rode past, flipping off the car and calling it a piece of junk.

The event doesn’t appear to have prompted a police incident report and wasn’t included in those provided to the AJC.

Kaylyssa Quinn also saw the misplaced Waymo while she was at Streets Alive with her young son. In a video she shared with the newspaper, a Waymo traveling westbound is seen parked under the Whitehall Street overpass. Behind the car are plastic barricades meant to block traffic on Murphy Avenue from turning onto Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard.

Quinn had a similar reaction to Mitchell, finding it both funny and annoying. It was the first time she had seen one of the Waymo vehicles. Quinn said autonomous vehicles seemed overly hyped.

“It’s literally just a car,” she said. “It’s just another car.”

Quinn said it doesn’t seem like the right partnership for an event like Streets Alive, “which is supposed to be showing what our streets could be like without cars.”

Both visitors said Lime, which offers scooters and bikes for rent through the Uber app, is a better fit for Uber to highlight during Streets Alive.

In addition to the Waymo booth, Lime and its competitor, Bird, will have a selection of scooters and bikes available at the June Streets Alive event. They’re providing bike valet services and giving demonstrations, city officials said. MARTA is also a regular at Streets Alive, bringing electric buses and showing riders how to use the bike racks on buses.

Mitchell cited recent statistics from Lime, which named Atlanta as one of its top cities worldwide when it comes to ridership. Atlanta’s embrace of Lime scooters and bikes has led the company to debut its newest step-through bike here, and Mitchell said he would have preferred to see micromobility offerings like that highlighted instead of Waymo.

“That’s very different than ‘here, hop in a car,’” he said.

The next Streets Alive will close Peachtree Street between Alabama Street downtown and 15th Street in Midtown. For those who want to see a Waymo up close, the booth will be across from St. Luke’s Episcopal Church near the Civic Center MARTA station.

The Lime and MARTA booths will be located along the same block, while the Bird booth will be near 1100 Peachtree St.

Staff writer Allison Mawn contributed to this story.