Waymo One, the autonomous vehicle ride-hailing service, has announced its plans to expand its operations in the Valley and in San Francisco to cater to the growing demand for its services. The expansion is aimed at providing a safe, convenient and reliable transportation option for more people in the community.
Autonomous vehicle technology is gradually taking over the transportation industry and Waymo One is one of the leading companies pioneering the development of driverless ride-hailing services. Waymo is the world’s first true fully autonomous ride-hail service and the company has grown exponentially over the years. Today, it remains one of the only providers of such services.
Waymo’s service area has increased to cover over 180 square miles in the Phoenix Valley alone. This expansion marks a significant milestone in Waymo’s operations, with coverage nearly four times the size of the company’s initial service area when it was launched in 2020.
The Phoenix expansion includes access to Scottsdale for the first time, increased coverage in Chandler and Mesa, and nearly complete access in the city of Tempe. Waymo has also opened a second location to access the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport alongside the new 24th Street PHX SkyTrain Station.
“These latest expansions in Metro Phoenix and San Francisco will help us provide more trips to more riders in more places, and are a big step forward on the road to growing our business,” says Waymo Chief Product Officer, Saswat Panigrahi.
The growth of Waymo’s services have been made possible by its innovation as a company. The company has refined the Waymo Driver to permit testing and services in new areas. Operational efficiencies have been instituted across fleets, enabling billions of miles in simulation and millions of on-road autonomous miles as machine learning evolves. Waymo has released software updates to increase reliability, including improved hand gesture detection, more versatile multi-point maneuvers, enhancements to driving performance in inclement weather and the expansion of cars to permit four passengers.
Currently, Waymo One services 10,000 trips per week, but with the Arizona and California expansions the company expects a tenfold increase by next summer. The change allows for passengers to hail a ride from anywhere in serviced areas, directly from the Waymo One App.
With over 150 million people using ride-hail services in the U.S, the technological improvements made by Waymo One are necessary to these fast-growing cities. Waymo has set goals to continue this progression by growing ridership, building relationships with communities, expanding their operations to new cities like Los Angeles, and promoting safety and efficiency.
Hail a ride by downloading the Waymo One app on the App Store or Google Play.
