Self Driving Is Here

Who would’ve thought it would come so quick? Who would’ve thought it would come from Google before Uber or Lyft? Incredible.

With little fanfare, the company has begun charging passengers to use its driverless vehicles in a roughly 100-mile (160 km) zone in four Phoenix suburbs - Chandler, Tempe, Mesa and Gilbert - where it has been testing its technology since 2016.

Waymo would not say exactly how many of its cars would be on the road in Arizona. It said its around-the-clock service initially would be limited to “hundreds” of people invited to sign up last year. For now, pricing is roughly in line with that of Uber and Lyft. A 15-minute, 3-mile (4.8 km) drive taken by Reuters last week cost $7.59, just above the $7.22 offered by Lyft.