Robotaxis open for business in Los Angeles

Anyone in Los Angeles will be able to digitally hail a Waymo robotaxi beginning Tuesday, but don’t expect the driverless vehicle to head onto a freeway.

Waymo announced it will begin Waymo One service in Los Angeles County but will limit its vehicles to surface streets, where the startup owned by Google’s parent, Alphabet, has been testing the sensor-laden cars for months with a limited group of passengers. The service can now be accessed by the public 24 hours a day on its app.

Los Angeles officials have been skeptical, seeking more safety oversight of the vehicles as future growth looms and unions raise concerns about job losses. But California Gov. Gavin Newsom this year vetoed legislation that would have required driverless car companies to report more data on crashes.

“Now is an exciting time to welcome everyone in Los Angeles along for the ride,” Tekedra Mawakana, co-chief executive of Waymo, said in an announcement. “Our service has matured quickly and our riders are embracing the many benefits of fully autonomous driving.”

The company estimates that its fleet of more than 700 vehicles completes over 150,000 rides weekly in Phoenix, the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles. So far, Waymo has about 100 robotaxis serving riders in L.A. and says that number will incrementally increase as the company grows. The driverless cars have become part of the landscape in San Francisco, where the company has its largest fleet.

Nearly 300,000 people signed up for the Waymo One wait list in Los Angeles when it debuted this year, Waymo spokesperson Chris Bonelli said in an email.

In Los Angeles, where getting across town can seem like a cage battle, the vehicles’ limits on freeway driving could pose a hurdle, making trips longer and more costly.

“We know freeways are critical to efficient routing across large service areas, and we’ll continue diligent testing to offer freeway routes to our riders in the future,” Bonelli said. He said autonomous freeway driving is being tested in Phoenix and San Francisco.

In Los Angeles, those exercises have been limited. A California Department of Motor Vehicles report said that during a May 13 test, a Waymo on the eastbound 10 Freeway near the Bundy Drive overpass was involved in a moderate crash. According to the report, a car coming from behind made a lane change and hit the Waymo’s left rear corner.

“Our vehicle appears to have been driving correctly in its lane when it was hit, and after the collision, our autonomous specialist manually drove the vehicle to the shoulder,” Bonelli said.

DMV records show 12 Waymo crashes have been logged since March, all of them minor except for the freeway incident.