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Travel writer Jo Kessel buckles up next to the empty driver’s seat for the ride of a lifetime: in a robo-taxi. Her video of her experience, in San Francisco, shows her calling the taxi through a mobile app (similar to Uber) and the Jaguar car arriving five minutes later… without a driver! The video shows the robot taxi navigating roundabouts and four-way intersections, avoiding pedestrians, going down steep hills, and the oddity of saying thank you at the end of the trip… to no one.
Once upon a time, self-driving cars were the stuff of science fiction, but now they are a reality.
It took 15 years and more than 20 million miles of test driving to get there, but in August Google-owned self-driving taxi company Waymo One was finally allowed to provide its service to the paying public in San Francisco. And despite being a terrible backseat driver (and also not a big fan of robots), he couldn’t wait to try it out and film the whole experience.
The video starts when I click the “request button” in the Waymo app. Nerves and excitement take over when I am alerted that the car is on its way and will arrive in five minutes. At first I can see my vehicle approaching on the screen, but soon it is visible on the horizon, inching closer with a flashing light buzzing above the roof and rotating sensors next to the headlights and taillights.
Travel writer Jo Kessel buckles up next to the empty driver’s seat for the ride of a lifetime: in a robo-taxi
It looks like a spaceship on wheels, but it’s actually a custom, all-electric white Jaguar I-Pace, one of 250 in Waymo’s fleet in San Francisco.
The car stops in a safe place and I have to open the doors with the app.
Before I know it, I’m sitting next to the empty driver’s seat, heart in my mouth, buckling up. The journey only begins once the passenger touches the ‘Start Journey’ button on the dashboard and with trepidation I do exactly that.
The car, or rather its dashboard, speaks while we drive and explains some basic rules called “driving tips.” He says, ‘We’ll drive everything.’ Please do not touch the steering wheel or pedals during the journey.’
Jo’s video of the experience, in San Francisco, shows her hailing the taxi via a mobile app (similar to Uber) and the Jaguar car (above) arriving five minutes later… minus a driver, of course.
To start the ride, as Jo’s video shows, the passenger must press the “start” button on the dashboard.
Jo is nervous when the taxi sets off.
Being a passenger in an autonomous vehicle is both exciting and stressful. Watching the steering wheel turn without anyone sitting behind it is extraordinarily surreal, especially when the car makes its first left turn maneuver.
Shortly after, the Waymo reaches an intersection that has no traffic lights. How will he manage? He hesitates a bit and creeps forward once he’s sure the coast is clear.
San Francisco is a notoriously hilly city and at times my ride feels like a roller coaster with lots of ups and downs and steep inclines to navigate. There are fears. Will the car stop? How sharply will it brake? What happens if someone jaywalks?
It turns out that the car drives quite smoothly (smoother than most human drivers) and stops reliably at red lights.
And since Waymo cars are programmed not to go over the speed limit (mine averages around 20 mph), it always feels stable and safe. As for the brakes, although the car has pedals, they are purely aesthetic and never move. However, they definitely work and are particularly impressive on steep slopes. While most human starts on hills involve the car rolling back a little, my Waymo car doesn’t, not even a bit.
Jo writes: “It turns out that the car drives quite smoothly (more so than most human drivers) and stops reliably at red lights.”
‘Can it go down hills?’ Jo asks in the video. ‘Yes you can’ is the answer
A musical montage towards the end of the film shows how our route follows another Waymo and a very cute dog. It also demonstrates the autonomous vehicle’s capabilities when it goes around a roundabout and then changes lanes to stay away from a double-parked car. However, the most fun thing is the reaction of the pedestrians. They turn, stare, and do a double take, as if the car were an A-list celebrity.
By the end of the trip I have become desensitized to the fact that I am in a robot car and wish I could do it all over again.
So I do.
I reserve one for a day later, when I don’t want to walk home alone in the dark. Does that trip feel different from the day?
Actually, yes!
Women can feel vulnerable alone in a taxi with a male driver. Being in the driverless Waymo feels much safer, something she hadn’t considered before traveling.
“By the end of the trip I have become numb to the fact that I am in a robot car and wish I could do it all over again,” Jo writes. ‘So I do.’ Pictured above is another Waymo car that Jo’s taxi follows for a short time.
“Women can feel vulnerable alone in a taxi with a male driver,” Jo writes. “Being in the driverless Waymo feels much safer, something I hadn’t considered before traveling”
Better still is the fare: $24 (£19) for a 40-minute round trip. And at no additional cost, I can get off halfway and call another taxi when I’m ready to restart the trip. My overnight trip is cheaper: $10 (£8). And tips are not expected: you don’t even have the opportunity to tip. This already seems reasonably priced, but Waymo promises that rates will drop as they rise.
It’s strange to have no one to thank at the end of the trip; my “thank you” to the car when I leave falls on deaf ears.
But I would definitely like to travel with Waymo again. Its driverless taxis are also available in Phoenix, Arizona, and will soon arrive in Los Angeles and Austin, Texas. Fancy a futuristic hands-free car ride? Better sign up now. It’s so popular that there is currently a six-month waiting list!
Register here to join the waiting list – waymo.com/waitlist.
To see more of Jo’s videos, visit her YouTube channel, Go With Jo. www.youtube.com/@gowithjo1