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- We spoke to two Waymo One early riders about their experience in the company’s self-driving taxis.
- Together, the pair have easily amassed more than 100 rides from the Alphabet subsidiary.
- The vans are surprisingly nice, both riders said, and disengagement is minimal. Still, there’s a lot more improvement needed before they ditch their personal vehicles.
The world’s most exclusive club might be in Chandler, Arizona.
For months, dozens of self-driving vans owned by the Alphabet subsidiary Waymo have been crisscrossing the Phoenix suburb on the first rollout of the company’s autonomous driving program.
Plenty of people have noticed them — but very few were allowed to take rides. And those "early riders," as the company calls them, were subject to strict non-disclosure agreements.
Reid Beer and Shawn Metz were two of those lucky first riders.
In December, Waymo’s early rider program shifted into its first commercial service, now known as Waymo One.
Business Insider spoke to Beer and Metz, who both live in Chandler and are participating in the Waymo One program, about what it’s like to ride in the futuristic vehicles.
In total, the pair have easily taken more than 100 rides in Waymo’s cars — and they spoke candidly about how flawless the service already is, even with backup safety drivers still present in the driver’s seat. Here’s what they had to say:
Rides are easy to hail, and arrive within minutes
Waymo
"It really works a lot like a lot of the other ride-hail services like Uber, Lyft and things like that," Metz, a 30-year-old operations manager, told Business Insider. "You just tell it where you want it to pick you up and then tell it where your destination is."
Both riders said that cars show up quickly, and that wait times have been constantly falling.
"It used to be quite a bit longer, but now it takes about four to six minutes on average," Beer, a 22-year old insurance agent, told Business Insider. "I have waited ten or 12 minutes before, but only if it’s real late at night."
That quick hail is key to making the service a regular part of his routines.
"I used to have to plan to call it and get a couple things done," Beer said. "Now I just call it, go outside, and its there within a minute or two."
The cars are surprisingly nice for minivans
Shawn Metz
"One of the things that really surprised us is how nice the cars are inside," Metz said. "At first we were kind of neutral about it being a minivan — but actually, it’s completely leather upholstered and surprisingly nice inside."
There’s a screen behind the front-seat headrest that’s not unlike the Waymo One app. It shows GPS-navigation, destination, and a current mop.
On the ceiling, there’s a panel that’s similar to being in an airliner, that can get riders a direct connection to Waymo support or tell the car to pull over.
There are also phone chargers, which are a nice touch, the riders said.
Sometimes Waymo is even cheaper than Uber
Shawn Metz
Waymo One doesn’t have surge pricing. That’s huge on nights like New Year’s Eve, when rides can get expensive and drivers are in high-demand.
"I paid like 10 or 12 bucks for a ride when everyone else was charging $20 to $30," Beer said.
Even on non-holidays, Waymo fares can be dirt cheap.
"It’s four or five miles to our regular grocery store, Trader Joe’s," Metz said. "And it’s typically like $5.99 to get there."
Metz suspects $4.99 might be the base fare, as he’s never had a ride cheaper than that amount.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
See Also:
- Waymo is reportedly in talks with a major automaker for a deal that should make its rivals nervous
- I took a 6-hour flight with the second-oldest airline in the world and was disappointed with the experience for a few key reasons
- We drove a $29,000 Honda Insight hybrid that will rival the Toyota Prius. Here are its coolest features.
SEE ALSO: Waymo is reportedly in talks with a major automaker for a deal that should make its rivals nervous
Source: Business Insider