Anyone in Los Angeles will be able to digitally hail a Waymo robotaxi beginning Tuesday, but don’t expect the driverless vehicle to jump onto a freeway.
Waymo announced it will begin Waymo One service in the county on Tuesday, but will limit its vehicles to surface streets, where the startup owned by Google’s parent Alphabet has been testing the sensor-laden cars for months. The service can be accessed 24 hours a day on its app.
Los Angeles officials have been skeptical, seeking more safety oversight of the vehicles as future growth looms and unions raise concerns about job loss. But Gov. Gavin Newsom this year vetoed legislation that would have required driverless car companies to report more data on crashes.
“Now is an exciting time to welcome everyone in Los Angeles along for the ride,” said Tekedra Mawakana, co-CEO of Waymo in an announcement. “Our service has matured quickly and our riders are embracing the many benefits of fully autonomous driving.”
The company estimates that its more than 700 vehicle fleet completes over 150,000 rides weekly with its vehicles operating in Phoenix, the Bay Area and Los Angeles. So far, Waymo has about 100 robotaxis serving riders in L.A., and says it will incrementally increase as it grows. The driverless cars have become part of the landscape in San Francisco, where the company holds its largest fleet.
Nearly 300,000 people signed up for the Waymo One waitlist in Los Angeles since it debuted this years and “hundreds of thousands” of trips have been taken, said Waymo spokesperson Chris Bonelli in an email.
In Los Angeles, where getting across town is a cage battle, the vehicles lack of freeway driving could pose a hurdle, making trips longer and more costly.
“We know freeways are critical to efficient routing across large service areas, and we’ll continue diligent testing to offer freeway routes to our riders in the future,” Bonelli said. He pointed out that autonomous freeway driving is already being tested in Phoenix and San Francisco.
In Los Angeles those exercises have been limited. A California Department of Motor Vehicles report showed on May 13 during one of those tests, a Waymo riding on the 10 Eastbound Freeway near the Bundy Drive overpass was involved in a moderate crash. According to the report, a car coming from the rear made a lane change and hit the Waymo’s left rear corner.
“Our vehicle appears to have been driving correctly in its lane when it was hit and after the collision, our autonomous specialist manually drove the vehicle to the shoulder,” Bonelli said.
DMV records show since March 12 Waymo crashes have been logged, all minor with the exception of the freeway incident.
