Waymo makes driverless rides possible for everyone in Los Angeles
Hailing a Waymo robotaxi in Los Angeles just got easier. On Tuesday, the self-driving company eliminated the waitlist for the area and opened rides to anyone with the Waymo One app.
Now all interested passengers can hop into a Waymo and virtually cross the road 24/7 80 square miles of LA County, including Santa Monica, Beverly Hills and Downtown LA – with plans to expand to more areas soon. This comes after Waymo rolled out commercial operations in LA earlier this year, with nearly 300,000 people on a waiting list to ride, according to the company. Now you can simply download the Waymo One app, enter your destination and go.
Waymo, owned by Google’s parent company Alphabet, has expanded its operations into the US in recent months. In June, it similarly eliminated the waiting list in San Francisco. And in October, it began opening up rides to people on its interest list in Austin, Texas. Waymo plans to make its robotaxis available in both Austin and Atlanta through the Uber app by 2025. In metro Phoenix, public riders can already hail a Waymo through the Waymo One app or Uber.
Waymo is also testing autonomous driving on freeways in Phoenix. In an exclusive video shared with CNET in May, the company showed how its vehicles navigated on-ramps and exits and changed lanes without a driver behind the wheel.
The company uses the fully electric Jaguar I-Pace to operate its taxi service. But in October, the company announced a partnership with Hyundai to integrate its next-generation Driver into the all-electric Ioniq 5 SUV, which according to a study blog post“will be added to the Waymo One fleet over time.” Testing of these vehicles will begin in late 2025 and become available “in the coming years,” the companies say.
Check this out: Testing Waymo’s Safe Exit feature in a self-driving taxi
I’m a regular customer of Waymo’s taxi service in San Francisco and can attest that while the first few moments can be slightly unpleasant (seeing a wheel turn on its own isn’t normal), I quickly adjusted and it felt like a regular ride. The cost and wait time vary depending on time of day and location, but in my experience the prices are comparable to what you would pay with Uber or Lyft (although they sometimes tend to be a little higher).
Now Waymo’s San Francisco robotaxis is sharing the road with the new kid on the block: Zoo. Amazon’s self-driving company is deploying its fleet of “purpose-built” robotaxis with no steering wheel, pedals or driver’s seat in San Francisco’s SoMa neighborhood, as well as the Las Vegas Strip. Zoox’s vehicles are not yet open to public riders, but the company says it plans to be commercially launched in 2025 in Vegas.
The rollout of this robotaxis did not always go smoothly. Waymo’s vehicles have been involved in a handful of high-profile collisions, including one with a motorcyclist in San Francisco, and another with a towed pickup in Phoenix. The company the software recalled and updated to tackle the problem. And in May, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration launched an investigation into both Waymo and Zoox for incidents involving commercial vehicles behaving erratically. That includes Waymo collides with parked vehiclesAnd sudden braking on Zoox’s test fleetaccording to the NHTSA.
General Motors-owned Cruise, which also operated a ride-hailing service in San Francisco, faced similar backlash over safety concerns and was suspended indefinitely in California last year after one of its self-driving cars struck a jaywalking pedestrian. Cruise has since resumed manual and guided rides in certain cities. In light of regulatory hurdles and questions about driverless capabilities, Waymo, Zoo And Cruising have all published reports touting the safety of their respective vehicles and technologies.
See also: Waymo Partners with Hyundai for Future Rides: Everything You Need to Know About the Growing Robotaxi Service
