“They’re Connecting People to Community.” LightHouse for the Blind SF CEO Shares Why She Rides with Waymo
From cable cars and ferries to buses, trains, and autonomous vehicles, San Francisco offers an exciting menu of options to get from point A to point B. This is what drew Sharon Giovinazzo to San Francisco in the first place.
“The attraction of it was the accessibility,” explained Sharon. “I can walk out my door and I can catch four different modes of transportation, just like that, at the click of my fingers. That's freedom.”
Sharon lost her vision due to an autoimmune disease over twenty years ago.
“In seven months, I went from 20/20 vision to nothing/nothing.” Sharon recalled. “It was scary. I thought I would spend the rest of my life sitting in a rocking chair on my front porch.”
Sharon and her guide dog, Pilot, on their daily ferry ride to work
Now, Sharon is a full-time advocate for people who are blind and became CEO of LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired SF in October 2022 after holding leadership roles at many other organizations that support the blind community.
Founded in San Francisco in 1902, LightHouse provides education, support, and advocacy for blind individuals in California and worldwide.
“Because of services like what the LightHouse gives, I've been able to live a full and independent life,” Sharon emphasized. “ I want to be able to exemplify what the possibilities are in life as a person with a visual impairment.”
LightHouse SF also advocates for transportation safety and freedom of mobility for people who are blind. Under Sharon’s leadership, LightHouse is partnering with Waymo, which currently operates an autonomous ride-hailing service in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Austin, to explore how Waymo’s technology can help people who are blind travel safely and independently.
“The impact of having Waymo as part of the tools in our toolbox is absolutely amazing because it's freedom, it's safety, it's autonomy,” Sharon emphasized. “It gives us the freedom to navigate this great city that we live in.”
Sharon said the technology opens up a whole new world for those who are blind.
“Accessing technology will level the playing field for my community to be a part of the bigger community itself,” Sharon said.
Sharon and Pilot enter a Waymo autonomous vehicle in San Francisco, California
With input and guidance from LightHouse and other members of the Waymo Accessibility Network, Waymo has added new accessibility features to its app and every aspect of its rider experience.
Waymo’s accessible features include screen-reader support, a setting to minimize walking time, adaptive app navigation with turn-by-turn walking directions, and the ability to activate purpose-built car sounds like the car horn or a melody to help riders find their vehicle by sound.
“Waymo's been such a great community partner to the LightHouse,” Sharon said. “They’ve given us a seat at the table, but they've also given us a voice at the table.”
“Waymo's been such a great community partner to the LightHouse. They’ve given us a seat at the table, but they've also given us a voice at the table.”Sharon Giovinazzo
She also frequently uses Waymo’s autonomous ride-hailing service.
“I'll never forget the first time I was in a Waymo and I was awestruck,” Sharon said, adding that, like many people, she never imagined autonomous driving vehicles would be real in her lifetime. “The future is now.”
Sharon also said she appreciates how Waymo does not discriminate against people with guide dogs like her dog, Pilot.
“A lot of times drivers have opinions that they don’t want my dog in their vehicle,” Sharon said. “He’s the one who helps me navigate my world, but they’ll leave me standing on the side of the street.”
Sharon and Pilot get comfortable inside a Waymo autonomous vehicle.
Sharon said having rides canceled by drivers when they see her guide dog is not only disruptive to her schedule, but also humiliating. But, she emphasized, that is not a factor with Waymo.
“One of the beauties of Waymo is that when they pull up, they welcome me and say ‘hello Sharon,’ and there are no opinions,” Sharon said. “And I have the same driver experience all the time because I have the same driver all the time.”
And, Sharon said, Waymo goes beyond providing safe, reliable transportation.
“They're connecting people,” Sharon emphasized. “They're connecting people to employment, they're connecting people to community.”
