Waymo is ready to expand its testing to actual passengers in San Francisco at no charge to riders. Up until this point, the Google-owned company has been doing limited testing without passengers in the major city. Over in Arizona, Waymo is already testing its autonomous taxis with real people, but expanding to human passengers is a big step in San Francisco.
Using an array of sensors and cameras, Waymo vehicles are completely autonomous, but the company avoids the phrase self-driving. The goal for Waymo is to bring autonomous vehicles into the world of ride-hailing, providing individuals with a safer riding experience and, of course, removing the whole "paying a human driver" thing along the way. While Waymo tests in both Phoenix and San Francisco, Metro Phoenix has been the base of testing with real passengers since 2017.
As for San Francisco, Waymo has announced that anyone can take a ride with their autonomous vehicles, and these rides are completely free during this testing phase. Through the Waymo app, users will be able to hail a ride complete with an autonomous car and a trained driver who can take over if necessary for safety. The only catch is that in order to hop in the autonomous Jaguar I-PACE, a rider must first agree to offer feedback through the app in exchange for a ride. The rider also won't be permitted to share information about the ride, per The Verge. This is more than likely to give Waymo enough time to work out bugs before they're viral.
The Trusted Tester Program
Similar to the program Waymo set up for testing in Phoenix, Arizona, the "Trusted Tester Program" will be expanding to all who are interested in San Francisco. Since kicking off the program last week with a select few individuals, the company is expanding the testing phase little by little to everyone who'd like to take a ride. In order to hitch a ride, the user must be physical located within the service area in San Francisco. From there they can sign up with the Waymo One app and try hailing a ride anywhere they want to go in the area for free. This deal seems pretty sweet, considering an Uber ride will cost a pretty penny, unless the destination is a vaccination site, of course. Waymo is also making it easier for those with a wheelchair to be able to catch a ride by allowing wheelchair-accessible vehicles to be hailed directly from the app.
As more and more people become passengers with Waymo in the complex streets of San Francisco, the autonomous ride-hailing service will be able to tweak and improve its vehicle safety and service reach. The company hasn't specified if this phase of passenger testing has a capacity or if there is a limited time to sign up. In the meantime, if you live in the San Francisco area you can try hailing a ride using the Waymo One app.