By Andrew J. Hawkins , transportation editor with 10+ years of experience who covers EVs, public transportation, and aviation. His work has appeare

Waymo’s robotaxis are now available to everyone in Los Angeles

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2024-11-13 03:30:13

By Andrew J. Hawkins , transportation editor with 10+ years of experience who covers EVs, public transportation, and aviation. His work has appeared in The New York Daily News and City & State.

Waymo is ditching its waitlist in Los Angeles, much like it did before in Phoenix and San Francisco, making its fully autonomous vehicles available to anyone who downloads the company’s Waymo One app.

There are still some geographic limitations with which to contend: Waymo only operates within 80 square miles of Los Angeles County, which includes neighborhoods such as Hollywood, Chinatown, Westwood, Marina del Rey, Mar Vista, and Playa Vista.

Still, it was a sign of the company’s growing confidence in its technology, especially after securing a record $5.6 billion investment round, led by its parent company, Alphabet, to help fund its next phase of growth. Waymo recently said it was conducting 150,000 paid trips and driving over 1 million fully autonomous miles every week.

Looking back, it took Waymo less than a year to open the service up to everyone after first launching its waitlist for select customers in Los Angeles. Waymo started testing the waters in LA back in the fall of 2023. The service went live in March 2024, and in April, the company started charging customers for trips.