Waymo: Autonomous cars are normal in San Francisco
At first glance, it seems scary: In the Bayview district of San Francisco, driving electric cars without a driver behind the wheel has long since become the norm. The self-driving “Waymos” have been active and accessible to the general public since June 2024. Trending Topics tested Waymo and had the robotaxi take them from the city center to the Golden Gate Bridge using a ride-hailing service. What we also learned: There will be a partnership between Uber and Waymo.
Waymo, Google’s sister company
Waymo emerged as a subsidiary after the restructuring of Google and is now part of Alphabet Inc. The project was launched within Google in 2009. While the test operation with the robotaxis in Phoenix, Arizona, began in 2017, it was not until 2021 that it began in San Francisco. At the beginning, the driving skills were still monitored by autonomous specialists. Waymos now drive autonomously through the streets of Austin, Los Angeles, Phoenix and San Francisco. “The Waymo robotaxis have already made over 100,000 paid trips per week,” according to PCMag UK.
Anyone traveling in San Francisco today can easily order one of the 300 active “Waymos” via the app. The prerequisite: an American credit card or a PayPal account. Even if the account setup takes place in the USA, you will at least need an American cell phone number.
360-degree field of view and LiDAR sensors scan the environment
If the car is ordered via the app, a Waymo – Jaguar I‑PACE model – arrives within a few minutes. There is a circular component on its roof: a LiDAR sensor on which the initials of the person ordering it appear. The sixth version of the Waymo has a total of 29 cameras, 4 LiDARs, 6 radar units, and external audio receivers for the robot axis. This means that the robotaxi is equipped with plenty of hardware. According to the company, it should have a 360-degree field of vision, through which the surroundings and objects at a distance of up to 500 meters can be recognized in the dark or in bad weather conditions.
Just don’t touch the steering wheel
Then the journey with the ride-hailing service can begin. Passengers can expect a modern interior and a display on which they can select the music they want, for example. There are three visible cameras in the vehicle, as well as two microphones – the latter are only switched on in an emergency, and the cameras are allowed to film anyway. Waymo can transport up to four people – no one is allowed to sit in the driver’s seat. Just as important: no one is allowed to touch the steering wheel.
Waymo likes to stop in the middle of the zebra crossing
The Waymo moves through the Bay Area at a maximum speed limit of 40 kilometers per hour. Waymos are not (yet) allowed on the highway. The built-in sensors keep a distance from other means of transport and people on the road. This worked very well in our test ride – the autonomous electric car never drove too close. It also stopped at red lights. What worked less well was stopping in front of the barrier line. Waymo also stopped several times in the middle of the zebra crossing, so that pedestrians couldn’t use it and buses had to swerve around them. But that didn’t seem to bother the Americans much – you can walk around it.
Price is (even) higher
A Waymo ride from Union Square in San Francisco, the city center, to the Golden Gate Bridge cost around $40. The price is based on demand. Uber rides are still cheaper, because with a human driver the journey would have cost around $30. But Waymo has only been available to the general public for about four months. When the ride is over, an automatic voice output reminds you to leave the vehicle clean and not to forget any items.
Fast habituation effect
As strange as it may feel to travel in a driverless car, you quickly get used to it. And despite the presence of microphones, the passenger experiences a certain feeling of privacy. Some Uber drivers from San Francisco have also gotten used to Waymo – although the reactions are mixed.
When asked by Trending Topics, one said: “I’ve never driven in Waymo, but that’s the future. I think it’s cool, maybe I’ll try it out sometime.” Another Uber driver assesses the situation differently: “I’ve never tried Waymo. Even if we use Waymos in the future, it will cost us our jobs. Waymo and Uber want to enter into a partnership. Uber wants to put autonomous cars on the streets.“
Waymo-Uber Partnership
And the Uber driver turns out to be right. Uber and Waymo actually only announced their cooperation in September. From the beginning of 2025, the two companies want to offer autonomous ride-hailing in Austin and Atlanta via the Uber app. In these cities, “a fleet of fully autonomous, all-electric Jaguars, which will grow to hundreds over time” will be on the road. Since Jaguar will end production of its I-PACE vehicles, it is still unclear which vehicles Waymo will switch to in the future. However, Waymo is likely to have secured the last model series of Jaguars and thus has enough vehicles.
