Waymo launches its driverless taxi pilot in Los Angeles

Waymo has launched its driverless taxi service in Los Angeles. The company is currently running a pilot program to test its fully autonomous vehicles in the streets of LA. It obtained permission for this test run from California’s Department of Motor Vehicles in November last year.

According to Waymo co-CEO Dmitri Dolgov, this pilot in LA will not involve any human driver. The testing will reportedly begin with limited rides in Santa Monica. The company is deploying its 5th-generation Jaguar I-Pace cars for the ride, with rides allowed only outside of rush hours at the moment. The pilot program may gradually expand to more parts of Los Angeles and also to more busy hours over time. Waymo is actively working on its software and algorithm to make its autonomous cars avoid stalling traffic.

This will reportedly be the first time that fully autonomous cars will be available on the streets of Los Angeles. Waymo told Engadget that its successful tests in San Francisco last year helped it expand the service to the city with “little-to-no on-board engineering work”. By the looks of it, the company may bring its driverless taxis to more places around the US in the coming months. Or at least launch commercial services in places where it is currently running the pilot program. We will let you know as soon as we have more information.

Waymo brings its driverless taxi service to Los Angeles

Waymmo is owned by Google parent Alphabet. The company has been working on a driverless taxi service for several years now. Those efforts started bearing fruits in 2022. Well, it has been operating driverless vehicles in some cities for quite some time, but those were mostly limited to exurban towns. The firm expanded the service to denser areas of various cities last year. In late 2022, Waymo also started operating its fully autonomous vehicles for carrying passengers between the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and downtown.

Now, it’s expanding the service to Los Angeles, albeit in limited testing. During this test run, Waymo will likely only allow people in the Waymo Research Trusted Tester program to book a driverless taxi. That has been the modus operandi pretty much everywhere it launched the pilot program over the years. Availability for the general public will depend on the outcome of this pilot, as well as the company obtaining the necessary permission from the California state government. But it may not be long before you can roam around LA in Waymo’s driverless taxi.