Waymo Opens to Anyone in Los Angeles! – CleanTechnica

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Waymo continues to trot forward. After increasing its weekly passenger count by 50% in just two months earlier this year, it’s sure to do so again soon. The company has now opened up Waymo One robotaxi rides to anyone in Los Angeles. That’s across “Santa Monica, Hollywood Boulevard, USC, and everything in between,” or 80 square miles of Los Angeles County. It’s also any time of day or night.

Earlier this year, with 300,000 people on the waitlist, Waymo began its commercial operations in California’s most famous city.

“Now is an exciting time to welcome everyone in Los Angeles along for the ride,” said Tekedra Mawakana, co-CEO, Waymo. “Our service has matured quickly and our riders are embracing the many benefits of fully autonomous driving. We’re so grateful to all of our first riders in LA, and we can’t wait to serve more riders soon.”

Waymo also took the opportunity to brag about its user ratings. To be honest, I’m a little surprised the ratings aren’t higher. The company notes that it’s gotten a rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars on average, and that recently surveyed riders in LA were very satisfied with Waymo One and found it useful — “98% are satisfied with our service and 96% find it useful.” Naturally, those are quite good scores for anything, but after reading how much my family enjoyed using the service in San Francisco, I wonder what the issues were. Maybe some people had difficulty finding the robotaxi (as my family briefly did), or maybe they ended up stuck in odd situations temporarily. In any case, a 4.7/5 or 98% satisfaction rating would be good enough for almost anything.

I’m not sure if there are clear numbers or surveys to support it, but Waymo implies that Waymo One robotaxis are saving people time who, presumably, would otherwise drive themselves. That hadn’t really crossed my mind, as I figured Waymo One riders would otherwise be using Uber/Lyft/taxis. But maybe there’s something to it? This is what Waymo wrote: “With the Waymo Driver at the wheel, people are reclaiming their time in LA traffic to be more productive – or not – as they wish. Whether it’s taking extra time to run lines before an audition, filming social media videos, or simply taking a beat to relax, Angelenos are increasingly incorporating Waymo into their daily lives.” That all sounds nice. It just seems it would be no different if they were taking Ubers/Lyfts/taxis. Personally, though, I would prefer a Waymo — and perhaps a slight preference for that over a human-driven taxi would coax me out of my own car, as long as it didn’t cost more or the opportunity cost was worth it.

Waymo adds that it’s a partner of the coming LA Auto Show as well. “Waymo’s also proud to serve as the Official Ride-Hail Partner of the Los Angeles Auto Show. If you’ll be in town and attending the show running November 22 — December 1, join us to learn more.”

If you want to use Waymo, all you have to do is download the Waymo One app.

If you’ve used Waymo and have something to add, feel free to share notes with us down in the comments!