Waymo will soon start asking riders in San Francisco to pay for trips

Enlarge / One of Waymo's Jaguar I-Paces on the streets of San Francisco. (credit: Waymo)

Waymo rides in San Francisco will start costing money soon, according to TechCrunch. The robotaxi spinoff from Alphabet has obtained a necessary permit from the California Public Utilities Commission that allows it to charge customers for their trips, something that should start happening later in March.

Originally, Waymo started teaching its robotaxis to drive in the flat, sunny expanse of Chandler, Arizona. And in October 2020, the company finally started offering an actual commercial ride-hailing service in the area.

Ironically, there are limits to the lessons you can learn in such a car-centric environment. Training an autonomous vehicle is all about mastering the edge cases, and there are many more of those in the dense, chaotic, pedestrian-filled environment of San Francisco than an Arizona suburb.

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