Alphabet’s subsidiary Waymo announced on Tuesday that its autonomous ride-hailing service, Waymo One, is now available to everyone in San Francisco, nearly four years after launching a similar service in Phoenix, Arizona. Driverless vehicles are anticipated to drive commercial success for automakers, despite ongoing regulatory scrutiny and investor concerns about increasing investments in this emerging technology.
Waymo initially began 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 the company worked to commercialize the technology. The company reported that about 300,000 people had signed up to ride with Waymo since it first opened a waitlist in the city, indicating strong demand. Now, with open access, anyone can request a ride through its app.
In 2020, the company granted unrestricted access to everyone in Phoenix, Arizona, without a waitlist. Based in Mountain View, California, Waymo is a pioneer in self-driving technology, having launched its first U.S. driverless taxi service in 2020, over a decade after it was established in 2009 as a project within Google.
In March, Waymo received approval from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to start its Waymo One service in Los Angeles and several cities near San Francisco. Rivals, including General Motors-backed Cruise and Amazon.com’s Zoox, are intensifying the competition to succeed in the autonomous vehicle market amid ongoing investigations by auto regulators into the performance of self-driving cars.
Last month, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported nine additional incidents raising concerns about the performance of Waymo’s self-driving vehicles.
