Tech startup Waymo said Tuesday that it would begin offering paid robotaxi rides in Los Angeles beginning Wednesday, as the nation’s experiment with self-driving car technology picks up steam.
Waymo, a spinoff of Google, had announced details for its service in Los Angeles in January as it sought state regulatory approval and local support. Within the last year, Waymo has offered free “tour” rides in Los Angeles, and last month, it received regulatory approval to expand to a paid service, despite pushback from the Teamsters union and the Los Angeles Department of Transportation. Waymo previewed the project in a blog post in 2022.
Waymo said Tuesday that more than 50,000 people were on its waitlist to use the service. The company did not say how many users it would allow to fully use the app starting Wednesday. Last month, the company said it was starting with a Los Angeles fleet of fewer than 50 cars covering a 63-square-mile area from Santa Monica to downtown L.A. Los Angeles County has a population of 9.7 million people.
The service works similarly to other ride-hailing smartphone apps such as Flywheel, Lyft and Uber, except that Waymo’s vehicles have no human drivers present. Riders follow instructions on the app and through the vehicle’s sound system, though Waymo workers can assist remotely.
Robotaxis are getting more buzz as the technology advances in fits and starts. Tesla CEO Elon Musk said Friday that Tesla would reveal a robotaxi product in August, though he gave no details. Cruise, a General Motors subsidiary that paused its robotaxi service last year after one of its vehicles failed to detect a pedestrian underneath it, said Tuesday that it would reintroduce human-driven vehicles in select cities, including Phoenix, as a step back toward driverless operations.
Various China-based tech startups are also testing self-driving cars on California roads, drawing scrutiny from lawmakers.
But for now, Waymo’s only competition is traditional,…
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