Waymo opens robotaxi service to anyone in Los Angeles
A Waymo autonomous self-driving Jaguar taxi drives along a street on March 14, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.
Mario Tama | Getty Images
Alphabet-owned Waymo is removing the waitlist for its self-driving service in Los Angeles, marking its largest expansion yet.
Starting Tuesday, anyone in LA will be able to use the Waymo One app to hail a self-driving robotaxi throughout nearly 80 square miles of Los Angeles County, the company said. That includes the 300,000 Angelenos who have been on Waymo’s waitlist.
With more than 3.8 million people, LA marks the third and largest city where the company’s robotaxi service is now fully available. It follows San Francisco, where Waymo One opened citywide in June. The company opened the service in Phoenix in 2020.
“Now is an exciting time to welcome everyone in Los Angeles along for the ride,” Tekedra Mawakana, co-CEO of Waymo, said in a news release Tuesday. “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.”
The company has been rapidly expanding its operations over the last year thanks to additional funding.
Waymo closed a $5.6 billion funding round in October to expand its robotaxi service across the U.S. The autonomous vehicle venture is owned by Google parent Alphabet, which led the series C investment in Waymo, alongside earlier backers including Andreessen Horowitz, Fidelity, Perry Creek, Silver Lake, Tiger Global and T. Rowe Price.
The robotaxi company now sees more than 150,000 paid rides per week across its three markets via the Waymo One app, the company said Tuesday. That’s up from 100,000 in August.
Waymo in September announced that it partnered with Uber to launch its robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, in 2025. The next-generation robotaxi from Waymo is a Geely Zeekr that’s equipped with custom sensors and an AI “driver.” Waymo also recently agreed to a multiyear strategic partnership with Hyundai that will add the South Korean automaker’s Ioniq 5 electric vehicle to its robotaxi fleet.
The Waymo One service has been embraced by some women who have safety concerns about riding with unknown human drivers. It has also been used by parents to send their teens to school.
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