Waymo One is now available to everyone in this city – great news for autonomous taxi expansion

The future is here, or rather, in San Francisco. From todayanyone can use the Waymo One autonomous taxi service in this American city. It doesn’t matter if you are a resident or just passing through, you just have to register in the application, associate a payment method, choose a destination and wait for a driverless car to pick you up.

This is a very important advance for the expansion of the concept of fully autonomous travel. Waymo cars have been on the streets of San Francisco for a long time, but their features have gradually expanded over the years. What started as an experiment has finally become a service.

Waymo is now available 24/7

There was a time when Waymo cars could only move around the city with a driver behind the wheel. The human’s role was basically to take control of the vehicle in emergency situations. Later, the authorities authorized the firm to carry passengers completely autonomously, although they usually carried their own employees.

The touch interface from which the journey begins inside the car

Waymo’s evolution also saw waitlists and limited areas of operation with free rides for users. Rides are now available 24/7 throughout San Francisco with fully electric cars powered by renewable energy. As a result of this evolution, the waitlist no longer exists.

Firefly, a Google autonomous car prototype

What we know today as Waymo was born more than 15 years ago as the Google Self-Driving Car Project. His first trips took place in the streets of Palo Alto in 2009. In 2015, the company announced what they called “the world’s first fully driverless ride on public roads”. Time has passed, and the autonomous car has been gaining ground in the world.

Waymo is currently also present in Phoenix, Los Angeles
and Austin, although in some of these locations service is limited and a waiting list still exists. Waymo One’s arrival in San Francisco makes sense. This city has been the great “laboratory” of autonomous driving, although it has not been without problems and controversies.

Images | Waymo

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