Rejoice, lovers of robotaxis. Waymo has killed its waitlist and opened driverless ride-hailing to everyone in San Francisco.
Alphabet’s Waymo announced the move Tuesday, allowing anyone to download the app and request a ride. Until now, would-be riders have had to endure a cooling-off period in between signing up and being able to ride. The death of the dreaded waitlist mirrors Waymo’s operations in Phoenix, where public access without a waitlist has been available since 2020.
Waymo claims its self-driving technology has been involved in 78% fewer injury-causing crashes and 55% fewer police-reportable crashes compared to human drivers, based on over 3.8 million rider-only miles driven in San Francisco through March. There was that one time one of its cars killed a dog. Still, it didn’t drag a woman 20 feet under a robot car and then try to hide it from regulators, like its competitor Cruise, which then paid out $8 million to the victim.
Waymo has been operating in San Francisco since 2009, gradually scaling up its presence. The company reports nearly 300,000 people have signed up for its service in the city, representing more than a quarter of San Francisco’s population.
The autonomous ride service currently provides tens of thousands of weekly trips. The company said about 30% of rides in San Francisco are to local businesses, while over half of surveyed riders reported using Waymo for medical appointments in recent months. Additionally, 36% of riders use the service to connect with other forms of public transit.