Waymo, the Autonomous Vehicle Companies of Alphabet (the Google sister), now also brings its driverless robot taxis to the Los Angeles motorways.
From now on, the company tests its fleet on the city’s most important motorways, including the I-10, I-1110, I-405 and I-90. First of all, the service will only be accessible to employees before it is opened to the general public.
The step to the highways is for Waymo of crucial importance, since customers may be more of a Waymo if the vehicle takes the fastest route that often leads over the highways. An example: A trip from Santa Monica Pier to the Broad Museum can be 50% faster by using the i-10.
Waymo has been in Los Angeles Active to map urban areas such as downtown, koreatown and Westwood. In 2022, the company announced that Los Angeles would be one of the next commercial markets. In 2024 Waymo received the approval of the California public utilities commission, to offer a commercial robot taxi service in Los Angeles and in extended areas of the Bay Area.
Waymo follows the same approach in Los Angeles as in other cities: First, the test phase is carried out before the service is made accessible to the public.