Waymo marks one year of driverless vehicles with expanded service
It’s been one year that Waymo launched its public, self-driving Waymo One vehicle service in metro Phoenix, the first company in the world to do so.
Mountain View, California-based Waymo LLC marked the day by expanding its commercial ride-hailing service to more East Valley riders through a new iOS app launch.
Interested riders with Apple devices can join the early rider wait list to ride, and once accepted off the wait list, can request rides through the app.
The Phoenix Business Journal tried out a self-driving Waymo car in April using the app. Watch a video of the ride here.
Waymo One year in review:
- 1,500-plus monthly active riders.
- Tripled the number of weekly riders since January 2019.
- More than 100,000 total rides served since launching the early rider programs first in Phoenix in April 2017.
- The majority of Waymo One rides happen in the late afternoon into the evening, and riders are using the service to do everything from commuting to work and school to running errands and visiting family and friends.
- New in-car features include: music, dark mode to make screens dimmer at night, a zoom feature so riders can take a closer look on the screen at what the car is seeing, and a map view that allows riders to see where they are.
- Since there is no driver to call, text or wave to, Waymo has fine-tuned its pickups and drop-offs in the app and improved its recommended pickup and drop-off spots.
To read this Phoenix Business Journal article in its entirety or to view a slideshow of Waymo’s self-driving ride experience, visit here.