Tech
I ditched Uber for a driverless robotaxi in San Francisco – here’s why I’m never going back
- My normal default setting is to hire a car when in the US – when in Rome, etc… However, I resisted the temptation in San Francisco, instead choosing to download the Waymo app.
- Okay, full disclosure, I used Uber for the 30 minute journey from the airport to our Union Square hotel, but after that it was Waymo.
- For those who don’t know Waymo, it’s another American tech startup – a subsidiary of Alphabet, Google’s parent company.
In the latest DriveSmart newsletter, Steve Fowler takes a ride with Waymo and finds the safety numbers – and the lack of small talk – hard to argue with I ’m writing this from the 59th floor of a hotel in Las Vegas, on what our American friends would call ‘vacation’, having already been in San Francisco and LA. My normal default setting is to hire a car when in the US – when in Rome, etc… However, I resisted the temptation in San Francisco, instead choosing to download the Waymo app. Okay, full disclosure, I used Uber for the 30 minute journey from the airport to our Union Square hotel, but after that it was Waymo.
For those who don’t know Waymo, it’s another American tech startup – a subsidiary of Alphabet, Google’s parent company. Waymo describes itself as the world’s first autonomous ride hailing service – the company is currently carrying out trials on the streets of London with its fleet of white Jaguar I-Paces complete with weird bodywork additions that sense everything that’s going on around it. Waymos are ten-a-penny in San Francisco, so I thought I’d give it a go.
Source: Independent Lifestyle