Waymo will expand its self-driving taxi service to the cities of Los Angeles tomorrow and Austin within the year.
Waymo will start offering self-driving taxi service in Los Angeles tomorrow, initially making it accessible for free to a selected number of citizens. Waymo is a California-based firm under the umbrella of Alphabet, the parent company of Google.
The company’s self-driving taxi service first became available in Phoenix, Arizona in May 2022. Then, the California Public Utilities Commission allowed Waymo to operate in the state last August. The company then expanded its operations in San Francisco, the 4th largest city in California and the 17th in the United States.
So far, Waymo’s self-driving taxis have been a success, except for some acts of vandalism against its vehicles in the San Francisco area.
Waymo’s vehicles mount a Level 4 self-driving software, the highest currently made possible by technology. Commercially available self-driving cars usually never pass Level 2, with just Mercedes offering a Level 3 model in the United States.
All other levels of autonomy require human assistance. Tesla cars, for example, require the driver to keep their hands on the wheel at all times.
However, Waymo’s taxis are pre-trained on the serviced roads, making human assistance unnecessary. Still, the company offers a help center available at all times.
Future expansion
Waymo announced it would extend its operations in Los Angeles already last year. The company also plans to open its service in Austin, Texas in late 2024. No other roadmap for future expansion has been announced yet.
In Los Angeles, self-driving taxis will initially be available only to 50,000 citizens. Others can apply and those selected will be placed on a waiting list. Eventually, the service will be open to all residents and be accessible directly from the Waymo app.
Waymo’s cars will service Santa Monica, Century City, K-Town, Downtown, and parts of West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and Culver City. An area of approximately 63 square miles, compared to 47 in San Francisco and 180 in Phoenix.
Starting tomorrow, the service will initially be free for the selected users. In the coming weeks, as the service becomes available to the remaining citizens, the company will switch to a paying system.
