Google’s sister-company Waymo has announced a trial in which its self-driving cars will ferry shoppers to and from a nearby Walmart store to pick up their groceries.

　　谷歌的姊妹公司waymo对外公布了一项试验，自己旗下的自动驾驶汽车将在附近的沃尔玛商店对购物顾客进行接送。

　　For now, the pilot is being restricted to 400-plus members of its early rider programme in Phoenix, Arizona.

　　现在，这个试点项目仅限于在Arizona州凤凰城的参加过早期驾驶试验的四百多位成员。

　　However, it indicates how the tech giant thinks the autonomous vehicles could be deployed if and when they exit the experimental stage.

　　尽管如此，本项实验一定程度上表明了这家科技巨头的态度，自动驾驶该以何种方式投放市场、何时能够完成实验阶段。

　　One expert said cost would be key.

　　专家称，乘坐成本是问题关键。

　　The only word on pricing so far is a promise to offer participants discounts when they order goods via Walmart’s Online Grocery Pickup service as part of the deal.

　　目前为止，价格方面的信息仅有一项承诺：通过沃尔玛在线商店服务下单的顾客将享受乘车折扣。

　　If this is rolled out properly you would expect there to be a reasonably high threshold in terms of the price and spend commitment to justify the service, commented Julie Palmer, a retail expert at the consultancy Begbies Traynor.

　　咨询公司Begbies Traynor的零售专家朱莉.帕尔默(JuliePalmer)评论道：“如果推出得当，为体现这一服务，可以想象在价格和支出方面可能会相当高。

　　You’d expect it to be limited to shoppers buying higher value items.

　　“这项服务也可能仅限于购买高价商品的消费者”

　　The Walmart partnership had been rumoured after shoppers spotted Waymo-marked parking spots outside the store involved earlier this week, and shared the discovery on Reddit’s Self-driving Cars forum.

　　在本周早些时候，有传言称购物者在商店外发现了waymo标记的停车点，并在Reddit的自动驾驶汽车论坛上分享了这一发现。

　　Some suggested that the tie-up could offer an alternative to Amazon’s Prime Now quick-delivery service.

　　业内人士称，这次合作将对标亚马逊的Prime Now，提供即时配送服务。

　　Google and Amazon are both looking at cutting-edge ways to enter the food retail market, and we’re only beginning to see them flex their muscles, remarked Ms Palmer.

　　鲍尔默女士说，“谷歌和亚马逊都在尝试以边缘切入的方式进入食品零售市场，现在我们看到的，只是两家竞争的开始”。

　　The announcements comes two days after Waymo’s chief executive tweeted that its cars had driven a total of eight million miles on public roads, which is double what its tally had been in November.

　　两天前，Waymo的首席执行官在推特上表示，该公司的汽车在公共道路上行驶了800万英里，是去年11月的两倍。