Images courtesy of Waymo and GIF by AGREEN1
It’s been over 3 years since AGREEN1 started sharing information about robotaxis. These are ride-hailing vehicles that have no drivers. Have you seen any yet?
Waymo is one of the only companies still operating without a human driver. Waymo’s fleet has all electric vehicles. Cruise, which is owned by GM, took a long pause for almost a year, and it’s California license suspended. This summer Cruise resumed their robotaxis service in limited markets such as Phoenix, Houston and Dallas, but with a person in the drivers seat ready to regain control of the vehicle if needed.
Waymo, whose parent company is Alphabet (Google), is taking this new transportation mode to the next level. The company reports that it maintains a weekly average of 150,000 rides. Tekedra Manakana, Waymo’s co-CEO says that the service has matured quickly from the first test market in 2020. Robotaxis are now available in 80 square miles of Los Angeles.
After 2 million passengers and 20 million miles driven, now all one needs is the Waymo One app to schedule a ride in a driverless taxi. Tesla is hoping to have their autonomous ride hail service, “cybercab” fully operational in California and Texas by 2026.
