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‘This Experience May Feel Futuristic’: Three Rides in Waymo Robot Taxis
On Monday, Waymo began letting the public pay for rides in its driverless cars in San Francisco. The New York Times dispatched three reporters around the city to test the service.
Tripp MickleYiwen Lu and Mike Isaac
Tripp Mickle wrote this article after he and his colleagues paid for rides in three driverless taxis in San Francisco.
“Hello, Tripp,” a disembodied woman’s voice said through the speakers of a driverless taxi that was about to pick up a fare near the colorful Victorian houses known as the Painted Ladies.
“This experience may feel futuristic,” the voice said. “Please don’t touch the steering wheel or pedals during the ride. For any questions, you can find information in the Waymo app, like how we keep our cars safe or clean.”
For several years, San Francisco’s hilly and congested streets have doubled as a test track for hundreds of driverless cars operated by Waymo, an autonomous vehicle company owned by the Google parent company Alphabet, and General Motors-owned Cruise.
On Monday, despite the objections of San Francisco officials who worry the cars aren’t especially safe, Waymo’s vehicles began functioning just like paid taxis, minus the driver. For the first time, some people could book rides and pay fares for trips in a Waymo driverless car. Cruise has already been operating a limited paid service around parts of the city.
The New York Times dispatched three reporters across the city to test Waymo’s robot taxis. I started in Alamo Square, home to the famous Painted Ladies houses. Yiwen Lu started her ride at the Marina Green, along San Francisco’s northern waterfront, and Mike Isaac started his ride near the historic Mission Dolores Basilica.
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