Alphabet’s Waymo announced its groundbreaking move to introduce complimentary driverless robotaxi services to a select group of individuals in Los Angeles, beginning Thursday.
The approval from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) this month has paved the way for Waymo One, the ride-hailing program, to launch in Los Angeles and neighboring cities near San Francisco.
Waymo’s strategic initiative positions it ahead of its competitor, Cruise, owned by General Motors, which recently encountered setbacks after an incident involving a pedestrian and a driverless Cruise vehicle.
Covering an expansive area of 63 square miles, from Santa Monica to downtown Los Angeles, Waymo’s services will be initially offered free of charge.
In a blog post, Waymo stated, “We’ll be inviting riders into our service permanently, gradually onboarding the more than 50,000 individuals on our L.A. waitlist and continuing to distribute temporary codes at local events throughout the city.”
The company plans to expand its presence in Los Angeles gradually and transition to paid services in the forthcoming weeks.
Waymo has already introduced autonomous services for its employees in Austin, Texas, marking it as the fourth city for autonomous ride-hailing after San Francisco, Phoenix, and Los Angeles. Later this year, Waymo intends to extend Waymo One to the general public in Austin.