Waymo's autonomous ride-hailing service
now available to all in San Francisco
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[June 26, 2024]
(Reuters) - Alphabet's Waymo said on Tuesday its autonomous
ride-hailing service, Waymo One, is now available to everyone in San
Francisco, nearly four years after a similar move in Phoenix, Arizona. |
Front quarter panel sensors are seen on Jaguar I-Pace electric vehicles
at Waymo's operations center in the Bayview district of San Francisco,
California, U.S. October 19, 2021. Picture taken October 19, 2021.
REUTERS/Peter DaSilva/File Photo |
Driverless vehicles are expected to drive commercial success for
automakers even as regulatory scrutiny remains tight amid
concerns of investors about growing investments in the nascent
technology.
Waymo had started a test service with its research-focused
program in San Francisco in 2021, which included an autonomous
specialist on board for all rides at that time, as it looked to
commercialize the technology.
The company said that about 300,000 people had signed up to ride
with Waymo since it first opened a waitlist in the city,
signaling strong demand. Now with open access, anyone can
request a ride on its app.
The company had opened access to everyone in Phoenix, Arizona
without a waitlist in 2020.
Mountain View, California-based Waymo is a self-driving
technology pioneer, which started its first U.S. driverless taxi
service in 2020 over a decade after it was born in 2009 as a
project inside Google.
In March, the company received approval from the California
Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to start its Waymo One in Los
Angeles and some cities near San Francisco.
Rivals including General Motors-backed Cruise and Amazon.com's
Zoox are accelerating a race to succeed amid probes by auto
regulators involving the performance of autonomous driving cars.
Last month, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration said it had learned of nine additional incidents
raising concerns about the performance of Waymo self-driving
vehicles.
(Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju
Samuel)
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