Founded by Google as an internal self-driving project in 2009, Waymo ("a new way forward in…read moremobility") was spun off as an independent subsidiary of Alphabet Inc. in 2016. It began public tests in 2017 in the Phoenix Area, removing safety drivers in 2020. In November 2024, it launched commercial driverless operations in the DTLA and Santa Monica areas with general public availability. I finally had a chance to use it with my brother, during a DTLA stay in late August of '26. It was a lot of fun.
We were staying at the LA Athletic Club, so ended up using the nearby Metro station to go to various places around LA. So on this Saturday, we found ourselves outside of Wi Spa at the eastern outskirts of K-Town, needing to get back to the hotel. We had taken the train/walked here and could have easily done it again, but instead took Waymo. I had prepared the previous day by downloading the app (it looks and behaves similar to Uber). It required the customary phone number validation by text, and defaulted to Apple Pay (though one can also add other credit cards). Then it was a simple matter of hailing a ride, just like Uber/Lyft. There is no opportunity to choose the type of car...everything is meant for up to 4 people. It was accurate in stating that a car would be here in under 5 minutes, and showed where the car would stop. Sure enough, it slowly came around the corner, and I have to admit I was super excited that a robot car was coming to pick us up, all for just $19.33. The app had asked if I wanted to partake in a trial where the car doors automatically when the phone's bluetooth is close...since I was busy taking video on my phone, I said 'Sure'. It didn't work...so I had to fumble to find the app, and press the 'unlock' button. My brother sat in the passenger seat, and I sat in the back. We had no luggage so don't know how the trunk process works. Currently, up to four passengers (3 in back, 1 in front) can be taken (later learned that the car will stop if it detects more than 4 people), where the empty driver's seat is not allowed to be used. I continued to take video as the car pulled out, but then the car stopped with a piercing ring, until I clicked my seatbelt.
The car was a fully electric, Jaguar I-PACE HSE SUV (AI states that the base is a 75k car, with another 80k in add-ons....pretty sure Waymo is losing money hand over fist during this ramp up period). The drive itself was very similar to a good Uber driver, not going particularly slow as I had feared. I was actually hoping for some unusual events (e.g. getting cut off or side swiped, pedestrians in the wrong place, or hearing emergency sirens) to see how Waymo would react, but it was a pretty even keel ride. The app can be used to control the climate and radio stations, and the two displays clearly indicate where you are and how close you are to your destination. It did warn us to listen for a beep if a bicyclist or another car was getting close as we exited. There was no opportunity to tell it to drop us off at our preferred entrance, and it definitely did double park while letting us off. Of course, we had to see it off, which it did after a few moments. There was no survey to submit, or any opportunity to give a tip. It very much reminded me of my first time taking an Uber, afterwards thinking 'This is going to change a lot of things'.
This was our one good opportunity to use Waymo during our stay, as its coverage area did not include Boyle Heights. It was kinda cool to see a fleet of them come to the Expo Park area right after the LAFC match, picking up gamegoers. Later that night, we could have taken it back to our hotel from K-Town late Saturday (when the trains stopped running), but the price was quite a bit higher than a Lyft...so chose the latter instead. Also I noted that the cars are not yet allowed to go on the highway, so any longer trip from someplace like Santa Monica to DTLA will definitely take longer (at least when the I-10 isn't backed up).
Recently (August 2026), California approved Waymo's expansion plans, making it available across 18 state counties. Will definitely use it again whenever we need a rideshare and prices are comparable.