Waymo robotaxis coming to LA
Alphabet-owned ride-hailing giant to map LA neighborhoods including downtown, Miracle Mile, Santa Monica, West Hollywood
Waymo will launch a 24-hour robotaxi service in Los Angeles as it accelerates toward a commercial launch.
The Alphabet-owned ride-hailing giant currently offers fully autonomous rides to the public in the East Valley of Phoenix according to its website. In addition, the company has been testing its Waymo One service in downtown Phoenix and San Francisco.
"When we think about our next cities, Los Angeles jumps out," Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana said in a blog post on Wednesday. "LA is a remarkable, vibrant place – and Waymo’s experience leaves us best positioned to tackle its driving complexity. We’re working closely with Angelenos to ensure we’re addressing the transportation needs and priorities of their communities as we bring the Waymo Driver to LA."
According to Waymo, the Los Angeles metropolitan area is the third largest ride-hailing service area in the United States, with approximately 13 million residents and an estimated market opportunity of $2 billion in 2022.
Waymo will launch a 24-hour robotaxi service in Los Angeles as it accelerates towards a commercial launch. (Photo courtesy of Waymo)
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A spokesperson for the Alphabet-owned ride-hailing giant told FOX Business that the company is deploying approximately a dozen vehicles across the city to map notable LA neighborhoods including downtown, Miracle Mile, Koreatown, Santa Monica, Westwood and West Hollywood.
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However, a specific timeline for when Waymo's commercial service could officially launch was not disclosed.
"We will take the coming months to continue gathering learnings from our operations and refining the Waymo Driver in the city, and follow our playbook that we’ve developed over multiple past city entries," the spokesperson said. "We will ramp up responsibly and with safety in mind every step of the way."
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In September 2021, Waymo received an autonomous vehicle deployment permit from the California Department of Motor Vehicles, allowing it to charge a fee and receive compensation for autonomous services offered to the public.
Under the permit, Waymo can operate on public roads in parts of San Francisco and San Mateo counties at a speed limit of no more than 65 miles per hour. It can also operate in rain and light fog conditions. The company has had state authority to test its vehicles with a safety driver since 2014 and received a driverless testing permit in October 2018.
A Waymo self-driving car pulls into a parking lot at the Google-owned company's headquarters in Mountain View, California, on May 8, 2019. | Getty Images
In February, the California Public Utilities Commission granted Waymo a "Drivered Deployment Permit", clearing the company to operate its autonomous vehicle service with a safety driver present and collect fares from passengers. The company is awaiting on approval to operate without a safety driver.
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In March 2020, Waymo raised $2.25 billion in its first external funding round, which was later revised to $3.2 billion as of the end of June 2020. It proceeded to raise another $2.5 billion in capital during a second funding round in June 2021.
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Waymo's competitors include General Motors-backed Cruise and Hyundai-backed Motional. Tesla is also developing a proposed robotaxi service, though its chief executive Elon Musk said in August that there is no specific launch city in mind.