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Waymo opens Robotaxis to everyone in LA for driverless rides
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Waymo opens Robotaxis to everyone in LA for driverless rides

Less than a year after Waymo began offering driverless taxi rides to a limited group of passengers in Los Angeles, the company has expanded its robotaxi service to the city at large.

All you need to book a futuristic ride is the Waymo One smartphone app.

“Now is an exciting time to welcome everyone in Los Angeles for the ride,” Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana said in an official statement. “Our service has matured quickly and our drivers are embracing the many benefits of fully autonomous driving. We are so grateful to all of our first riders in LA and look forward to serving more riders soon.”

Right now, Waymo vehicles are capable of traversing nearly 80 square miles of LA County between Santa Monica and DTLA — only on surface streets, not freeways — but that geographic area is expected to expand even further in the future near.

Waymo map
Courtesy of Waymo

How does Waymo’s robotaxi work?

About a year ago, we got to climb into a Waymo car when the company launched its Waymo One Tour program in Santa Monica and Venice — and we’ve been (mostly) impressed ever since.

Waymo One car in DTLA
Photo: Courtesy of Waymo

“Riding in a self-driving car for the first time is anxiety-inducing, exciting, and strangely normal, basically in that order.” wrote our Los Angeles and US West editor, Michael Juliano at the time when he drove the vehicle for a two-mile drive from the southern edge of the Venice service area to Santa Monica and back. “Even if you regularly drive a car equipped with advanced assistance features, it cannot prepare you for the radically different feeling of sitting in the back seat of a car with no one in the driver’s seat. Even the exterior of the white Jaguar I-PACE feels odd; it’s impossible to miss the lidar unit spinning from the roof, as well as the array of cameras and radar sensors (which allow it to see 360 ​​degrees for about the length of three football fields).

To summon your robotaxi, simply download the Waymo One app and follow the instructions. Remember that each car can accommodate up to four passengers at a time.

How much does a Waymo ride cost?

The price of a Waymo ride is based on the distance and time of the ride, which is how more “traditional” ride-sharing companies (think Uber and Lyft) also operate.

Because prices fluctuate all the time, it’s hard to compare the costs of these various apps, but Juliano noted that when he used the service, the price was “close to the base rates for Uber and Lyft”—though of course not you have to tip the robot driver.

It remains to be seen whether this will solidify as one of the the cheapest ways to get around LA or not. Either way, we’re excited to enter the future of transportation.