Waymo’s Driverless Rides Now Available to Anyone in Los Angeles

Waymo has started offering its robotaxi service to all Los Angeles residents, marking a substantial step forward in the evolution of autonomous vehicle technology.
Starting on Tuesday, anyone with the Waymo One app can request a driverless ride within an 80-square-mile area of the city, spanning much of Los Angeles.
The expansion follows an eight-month trial period in which the company offered rides to a select group of passengers from a waiting list of over 300,000 people.
The move is another milestone for Waymo, which began as a secret project at Google 15 years ago.
The company first received regulatory approval to charge for rides in California 15 months ago. It launched its service in San Francisco before bringing a limited offering to Los Angeles.
Prior to entering California, Waymo began operating its robotaxis in Phoenix in 2020. It has since expanded its service in the Arizona city.
Waymo now operates more than 150,000 weekly trips in its robotaxis, a growing service that helped secure a $5.6 billion funding round from its parent company, Alphabet, with investors including Andreessen Horowitz and T. Rowe Price.
“We’ve seen tremendous growth and our riders are embracing the benefits of fully autonomous driving,” said Tekedra Mawakana, Waymo’s co-CEO, in a blog post.
However, despite its progress, Waymo continues to operate at a loss.
Alphabet does not release specific financial details for Waymo, but the self-driving unit is part of the “Other Bets” division, which posted a $3.3 billion operating loss through the first three quarters of 2024, an improvement from the $4.2 billion loss reported for the same period last year.
Since its spin-off from Google in 2016, Waymo has emerged as the leader in the robotaxi industry, though competition is heating up.
Tesla, led by Elon Musk, plans to launch a rival “Cybercab” service by 2026, with hopes of securing the necessary regulatory approvals for operation in California and Texas by next year.
However, Musk’s ambitious timelines have often faced skepticism, as his previous predictions about fully autonomous driving have yet to materialize.
Waymo, by contrast, has logged over 20 million fully autonomous miles and delivered more than 2 million rides without a serious accident.
Its safety record stands in sharp contrast to that of its competitor Cruise, a robotaxi service owned by General Motors, which had its California license suspended last year following an incident in which one of its driverless cars dragged a pedestrian in San Francisco.
Cruise is now attempting to rebound by partnering with Uber to launch its services in U.S. cities in 2025.
Waymo, too, has aligned with Uber, announcing plans to expand its robotaxi operations in Atlanta and Austin, Texas, next year.
Amazon’s Zoox is another emerging player in the market, aiming to launch driverless rides to the public in Las Vegas by 2025, with plans to expand into San Francisco shortly after.
This article contains additional reporting from The Associated Press.