All About Waymo: Our Experience Taking the Self-Driving Car Service
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When we were planning our trip to San Francisco, I really had no idea that taking a self-driving car was going to be a part of it. But as soon as my husband saw a Waymo on the street (Google’s self-driving cars) and realized the app had opened to the public, it became a high-priority for him.
To be honest, I rolled my eyes a little bit and went along with it because I know how important experiencing new technology is to him. I thought it would be something we did once for the experience of it, and that would be it.
But to be honest, we loved Waymo so much that it became our main method of transportation during our time in San Francisco.
So let’s get into the details how to take a Waymo plus what the riding experience is like.
Booking a Waymo
To take a Waymo, you will need to download the Waymo One app. It’s super easy to use, and from the app you can book your ride.
The app will match you with a car, tell you where you meeting spot will be, and tell you how long it will be until the car reaches you. You can also choose a custom color, and when your car arrives, the color on the top of the car should match. The display on the top of the car will also show your initials so you know it’s the right car.
One thing that’s important to know is that you’ll need to make sure you go to the right meeting spot. Because there is not a human driver, you can’t wave to the Waymo and get it to pull closer to you. You’ll have to go to the car.
How Much Does a Waymo Cost?
To our surprise, taking a Waymo ended up being very much on par with the cost of an Uber. In fact, in some cases, it was slightly cheaper than a comparable Uber.
What Cities Is Waymo In?
Right now, Waymo can be found in San Francisco, Phoenix, and Los Angeles. They are also working on expanding to Austin and Atlanta.
The Waymo Riding Experience
Once you’ve booked your Waymo and gotten to it, your riding experience begins. When you get close to the car, the app will unlock your doors and you can hop in.
The first thing I loved about Waymo is that you are greeted with peaceful spa music inside. You can change the music on the screens in both the front and back seats. But honestly, I just wanted to let the relaxing music play all the time.
Once you are settled in and buckled, you can click to begin your ride on the screen and the car will start.
Yes, it’s a little weird at first to ride in a car where no one is driving. But honestly, we were surprised at how quickly we got used to it!
One thing that’s nice is that you can see on the screen what the car is seeing. There are of course all kinds of cameras and motion sensors on the outside of the car to enable the self-driving, and from the screen you can see as the car is sensing other vehicles and people.
For us, the car drove REALLY well and we felt perfectly safe. You can tell that it is programmed to be extra-cautious. For example, if it was turning and there was a crosswalk, it went extremely slow to make sure there were no pedestrians.
Really the only issue we ran into was at a construction detour. Our car was extremely confused about what to do. And even though the construction worker was trying to make big gestures to get the car to recognize where to go, it just didn’t. Finally though, it rerouted and we went a different way.
What If Something Goes Wrong?
There are people on the other end of the Waymo! Like with our construction zone snafu, I’m pretty sure someone at a computer saw what was happening and got us re-routed.
If something goes wrong during your ride though, there is a support button you can click to talk to a person in Waymo support that will help you.
My Waymo Review
I did not expect to come here with a glowing review of Google’s self-driving cars. Besides that fact that I wasn’t sure I was going to feel comfortable in an autonomous vehicle, there’s also that whole march of technology taking over our lives thing that I try to resist at least in part sometimes.
But despite myself, I have to honestly way that I LOVED our Waymo experience.
I loved the peaceful music. I loved the fact that as an introvert I didn’t have to sit in the car with a stranger. I loved that the experience felt extremely safe. And honestly, I kind of loved the novelty of it too.
All that to say, if you find yourself in a city where Waymo is an option but feel hesitant about self-driving cars, give it a chance! I was ready to dislike the experience, but ended up absolutely loving it!
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