Waymo opens driverless robo-taxi service to the public in Phoenix

DETROIT (Reuters) - Waymo on Thursday will relaunch and expand its fully automated, robo-taxi ride hailing service in Phoenix, rebooting its effort to transform years of autonomous vehicle research into a revenue-producing business. Some of the Waymo vans in Phoenix will still have attendants on board. Waymo has not said where or when it will expand its robo-taxi business beyond Phoenix. "You can imagine we'd love the opportunity to bring the Waymo One driver to our home state of California," Krafcik said. Before the coronavirus pandemic forced Waymo to suspend operations this spring, Waymo was using vehicles with no human attendant on board to provide five to ten percent out of a total of 1,000 to 2,000 rides per week in its Phoenix service zone, Krafcik said.