Waymo launches fully driverless taxi service in suburban Arizona

AUTONOMOUS vehicle firm Waymo said yesterday that it is opening its fully driverless ride-hailing service in suburban Phoenix, Arizona to the public.

Google owner Alphabet’s self-driving car unit began ferrying a select group of a few hundred customers, known as “early riders,” in vehicles without safety drivers in the summer of 2019. After receiving feedback from those riders, who were bound by nondisclosure agreements not to discuss their experiences publicly, the company is making driverless rides in its Chrysler Pacifica minivans available to all users in the Phoenix area.

“It’s a really, really big deal, we think, for us, and for the world,” said Waymo CEO John Krafcik.

It’s been five years since Waymo provided the firstever passenger trip in a driverless vehicle on a public road. The process of scaling the technology, Mr Krafcik said, has been arduous.

“It took us two years to get three cars up and running at the same time in fully driverless mode on the streets of Phoenix,” he said. “It took another year to get a hundred cars.”

Despite the slow pace, Waymo remains the acknowledged industry leader and is the first company to offer paid trips in cars with empty front seats. Earlier this year, Waymo raised more than $3bn (€2.55bn) from private equity groups and venture investors, the first time it has taken funds from outside of Alphabet.

In March, in response to the US outbreak of Covid-19, Waymo paused passenger trips in Phoenix except for those without safety drivers. From this week, any existing Waymo One customer can hail a driverless minivan from a fleet of more than 300. The vehicles will be operating in a roughly 50-square-mile service area. Passengers are free to invite friends and family and to share their experiences on social media.