Riding with Waymo One today
Today, we’re taking the next step in our journey to bring our self-driving service, Waymo One, to the public. We’ve invited early riders from our research program to be the first to access Waymo One and expect to gradually roll out so even more people can ride with us.
How does Waymo One work? We’ll start by giving riders access to our app. They can use it to call our self-driving vehicles 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They can ride across several cities in the Metro Phoenix area, including Chandler, Tempe, Mesa, and Gilbert. Whether it’s for a fun night out or just to get a break from driving, our riders get the same clean vehicles every time and our Waymo driver with over 10 million miles of experience on public roads. Riders will see price estimates before they accept the trip based on factors like the time and distance to their destination.
Our early riders have shown us that the first time people take a self-driving ride, they have questions. That’s why we’ve put support literally front and center in our cars. With the tap of a button on our in-car console and screens, or through the Waymo app, riders can connect instantly to a rider support agent to ask questions like, “What if I want to change my destination during the trip?”.
These channels will become even more important as we transition to fully driverless rides. At the start, Waymo-trained drivers will be riding along to supervise our vehicles for riders’ comfort and convenience.
Up to three adults and a child can ride, so there’s plenty of room to bring friends and family along to share the experience.
Feedback from riders will continue to be vital every step of the way. We hope all Waymo One riders will leave us comments in the app. They can help shape a future where life on the road is less stressful and safer for everyone.
We’ve shared more on Waymo One and what comes next in this post. Though there is a long journey ahead, we’re looking forward to inviting more of the world to join us on the road!
