Waymo partnered with Uber a couple of months ago to offer robotaxi rides in Atlanta, with the autonomous-car company reportedly deploying dozens of fully driverless vehicles for paying passengers in the city.
But while Waymo offers its service in other locations via its Waymo One app, in Atlanta it’s currently only offering robotaxi rides via the Uber ride-hailing app. And that’s led to a quirky new habit among some riders.
As reported by Business Insider (BI), those keen to hop in a Waymo robotaxi are now in the habit of canceling human drivers on the app until it serves up a robotaxi.
One rider said he even spent a whole hour rejecting rides until he was able to secure a Waymo robotaxi, adding that on average he has to reject around 20 human drivers on Uber before he can get a Waymo car to collect him. And that was despite setting an option in the Uber app that lets it know you prefer to ride in an autonomous taxi.
“These driverless vehicles seem to be amassing a contingent of enthusiasts who prefer them over human drivers,” BI said in its report.
Another robotaxi fan who’s in the habit of canceling Uber drivers until he gets a Waymo pickup said that he’s started to notice the kinds of rides that Waymo seems to go for. For example, they’ll cost under $12 and won’t require heading to a freeway.
An Uber spokesperson confirmed this with BI, saying that riders can increase the likelihood of getting a Waymo car by avoiding trips that would ordinarily involve hitting a freeway, riding outside busy times like evenings and weekends, and ensuring the ride is within the 65-square-mile Atlanta service area currently applied to Waymo’s autonomous taxi trips.
Canceling human drivers in pursuit of Waymo rides appears to indicate a growing interest and enthusiasm for autonomous rides, though for now at least, the vast majority of Uber rides are still taken care of by living, breathing humans … much to their relief, no doubt.
