Waymo, self-driving ride-hailing service, now available in downtown Phoenix
PHOENIX - Waymo, a fully autonomous ride-hailing service, is making its official debut for residents in downtown Phoenix.
The self-driving cars had been available for trusted testers in the area, and after millions of miles tested in real life and in simulation, officials say Waymo One is all set for the public.
Where can Waymo users go when their hail a car? For now, it's only available in the central Phoenix area and in the Tempe-Chandler area.
In Phoenix, the service is offered:
- East of I-17, west of State Route 51
- South of Camelback Road, north of Jefferson
The company has been utilizing the ride-hailing service in Chandler since 2021.
Some riders have used the service in other cities like Chandler and Tempe, while others are a bit more skeptical about using a self-driving car.
"I think in the future I'll trust it more, it's just so new I don't trust it yet," said resident Kira Binstock. "It makes me kind of nervous."
"I love it, it's autonomous, you don't have to worry about someone like an Uber driver or someone that you don't want to talk to," said Max Simpson, a Waymo user. "It's spacious, it's a lot cheaper than Uber or Lyft."
Reed Morse, a software engineer at Waymo, explained the safety aspect for riders.
"We have driven millions and millions of miles with the driver both in real life and in simulation," Morse said. "We've driven more in Phoenix than literally anybody else in the entire world, human or otherwise."
Learn more: https://waymo.com/phx/