Waymo, the subsidiary of Alphabet, Google's parent company, is officially launching the first autonomous commercial taxi service in Phoenix, Arizona. For the time being, only people who have taken part in the research programme launched by Waymo and their companions will be entitled to use this service. The service, called Waymo One, will initially be limited to several cities in the Phoenix metropolitan area, including Chandler, Tempe, Mesa and Gilbert. "Over time, we hope to make Waymo One more accessible to the public by adding more vehicles and driving in more places. Autonomous car technology is new to many, so we're proceeding cautiously" explains Waymo CEO John Krafcik on the company's blog.
Before moving on to fully autonomous journeys, drivers trained by Waymo will be on board to supervise the vehicles. In practice, passengers will be able to order a taxi in the same way as a traditional VTC. from the Waymo app and receive a price estimate before accepting the journey. During the journey, details of the journey appear on the car's screens and in the application.
