If robotaxis are any indication, the future is here, and the future is now. In numerous metropolitan areas, these self-driving, automated taxis are being gradually introduced, essentially acting as fully automated cabs. The only catch is that when it comes to this cab, its driver is simply an extension of the hardware that makes the car go.
One of the world’s most popular and successful robotaxi brands is Waymo, and Los Angeles has become one of their primary stomping grounds. Their robotaxi service and brand have become so ubiquitous in Los Angeles that John Mulaney famously spoofed the brand by introducing his self-driving delivery robot, Saymo, on his live show Everybody’s in LA.
Waymo’s Brand New App
Fortunately for LA residents, hailing a Waymo robotaxi was much easier. On Tuesday, the self-driving company scrapped its waitlist for the area and opened up rides for anyone with the Waymo One app.
Before, hailing a Waymo robotaxi operated like hailing a regular taxi cab. While residents of cities such as New York are accustomed to hailing cabs and well-versed in the occasionally aggressive art form of securing your taxi ride amid a busy crowd, this has fallen out of vogue in recent years.
Services like Uber or Lyft are far more common now than this traditional method. They provide users with apps to hail or schedule a ride from the comfort of their homes. In this way, Waymo’s pivot now encourages greater planning, easier hailing, and greater convenience for its riders.
Waymo, owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet, has been expanding its operations across the US in recent months. In June, it similarly eliminated its waitlist in San Francisco. In October, it began opening rides for people on its interest list in Austin, Texas. Waymo plans to make its robotaxis available in Austin and Atlanta via the Uber app in 2025. In metro Phoenix, public riders can hail a Waymo via the Waymo One app or Uber.
Expanding Beyond LA
Beyond just LA, Waymo is also testing autonomous rides on freeways in Phoenix. Extensive test videos have been shown that demonstrate self-driving cars entering and exiting the freeway, utilizing on-ramps with precision and skill. These demonstrations have gone a long way toward easing people’s fears regarding the safety or lack thereof surrounding self-driving cars.
Still, Waymo knows that familiarity is the best way to breed comfortability. The greater the presence of Waymo robotaxis in any particular area, the more likely the population is to trust them.
The company uses the all-electric Jaguar I-Pace to operate its ride-hailing service. However, in October, it announced a partnership with Hyundai to integrate its next-generation Driver into the all-electric Ioniq 5 SUV, which, according to a blog post, “will be added to the Waymo One fleet over time.” Testing with these vehicles will start by late 2025 and become available “in the years to follow,” the companies say.
However, Waymo is far from the only self-driving taxi cab company in town. Waymo’s robotaxis are sharing the road with Zoox’s in San Francisco. Zoox is an Amazon-owned self-driving company actively deploying its “purpose-built” robotaxis fleet. Zoox’s self-driving vehicles are even further removed from the norm, as they come without a steering wheel, pedals, or a driver’s seat.
Thus far, Zoox has debuted in San Francisco’s SoMa neighborhood and the Las Vegas Strip. Zoox’s vehicles have yet to be opened to public riders, but the company plans to launch commercially in 2025 in Vegas.
