SF Chronicle – Waymo opens its driverless robotaxi service to anyone in S.F.
See original article by Ricardo Cano, Jessica Flores at San Francisco Chronicle
Anyone can now hail a driverless Waymo robotaxi in San Francisco.
The autonomous vehicle company announced Tuesday that its driverless ride-hailing service in the city is no longer limited to people who’ve been approved off a waiting list. Users can hail a Waymo robotaxi through the company’s Waymo One app like they would an Uber or a Lyft ride-hail.
Waymo’s black-and-white robotaxis and their spinning lidar lids have become common in the streets of San Francisco, as well as tourist attractions. The autonomous vehicles transport tens of thousands of riders in the city each week.
Since August, Waymo has been permitted to operate paid driverless ride-hailing in San Francisco at all hours with no restrictions on geographic area or fleet size. Until Tuesday, the Alphabet-owned company had been gradually making its service available to users who’ve been approved off a company waiting list.
It’s unclear how much Waymo’s decision to open up its service to the public will fuel demand. The company says that nearly 300,000 people in San Francisco had signed up for its waiting list before Tuesday.
While it’s hard to determine if interest in Waymo’s increased on Tuesday, at least half a dozen of the autonomous taxis dropped off visitors at the tourist attraction Pier 39 on Tuesday’s sunny afternoon.
Passersby appeared awestruck by the autonomous vehicles, snapping photos and videos on their cellphones of the empty driver’s seats as the robotaxis dropped off passengers.
Josh Trowbridge and his stepson, Christopher Re, celebrated Christopher’s 10th birthday by taking a their first Waymo ride, an experience Re said was “awesome. I wasn’t scared.”
Trowbridge had downloaded the Waymo One app two days prior — when the company was still requiring users to first sign up on a waiting list — but didn’t have to wait long. Tuesday morning, he received a notification that the app was now open to everyone. Trowbridge was impressed by the vehicle’s driving skills after it avoided a pedestrian who stepped out as if they were going to cross the street.
“The Waymo went around,” he said. “It felt very safe.”
Asked if they would hail a ride again, Trowbridge immediately said yes. “I recommend it,” he said. “I’m sure taxi drivers are not a fan, but they weren’t a fan when Uber came out, too.”
Lady Gorospe, her husband, Paul, and their two children were greeted by family members snapping a video of them as they got out of a Waymo vehicle. The couple wanted to experience riding in a Waymo after seeing them driving around on Monday.
As Tesla owners, Gorospe said they’ve experienced aspects of self-driving vehicles before — but with a person in the driver’s seat “so you kind of feel secure, but (Waymo) was pretty safe,” she said, adding that she would request a ride again. “It definitely makes you realize how far we’ve come technology-wise.”
San Francisco becomes the second city where anyone can hail a driverless car. Waymo’s robotaxi service has been open to the public in metro Phoenix since 2020, and the company recently expanded its service area there to cover 315 square miles, including the region’s largest airport.
Waymo’s expansion in San Francisco could come with challenges for the company and its users.
Demand for Waymo robotaxis has surged in San Francisco since last fall, with much of the company’s ride-hailing activity occurring in dense downtown neighborhoods. Removing the waiting list requirement will likely further increase demand.
That could lead to higher wait times for Waymo’s San Francisco users if the company doesn’t increase its robotaxi fleet. The company told the Chronicle that its San Francisco fleet totals about 300 cars — up from roughly 250 robotaxis the company had registered in January. Waymo says that its latest robotaxi count won’t change much in the near future.
“We’ve been operating in San Francisco for years now, deliberately scaling our service over time,” the company said in a blog post. “With tens of thousands weekly trips, our Waymo One service provides safe, sustainable, and reliable transportation to locals and visitors to the city alike.”
It’s especially common to see Waymo robotaxis in neighborhoods like Hayes Valley, South of Market, Mission Bay, the Mission District and Financial District. Those dense and busy neighborhoods have recorded the most paid Waymo trips since the company began commercial service in late August. About two-thirds of riders use the robotaxis to commute to work or school, according to Waymo.
Waymo is the only autonomous vehicle company commercially operating in California, and plans to continue expanding in the state.
General Motors’ Cruise remains suspended after one of its robotaxis dragged a jaywalking pedestrian in San Francisco last October. The California Public Utilities Commission ordered Cruise to pay a $112,000 fine and report more incident data for allegedly misleading state regulators.
The PUC granted Waymo’s unrestricted expansion in 22 Peninsula cities and Los Angeles in March. Last week, the commission, which regulates robotaxi ride-hailing, rejected a request from local officials to relitigate its March decision.
Waymo has started testing driverless rides with employees in seven cities in San Mateo County and has been testing on Bay Area freeways with human safety drivers behind the wheel. The company is operating its ride-hailing service in a 63-square-mile area of Los Angeles with limited users.
See original article by Ricardo Cano, Jessica Flores at San Francisco Chronicle
