Waymo, Lyft partnership to offer self-driving rides in Phoenix area debuts
Jun 27, 2019, 9:47 AM | Updated: Jun 28, 2019, 11:46 am
PHOENIX — A partnership between autonomous vehicle company Waymo and ride-hailing provider Lyft launched in the Phoenix area on Thursday.
When using the Lyft app, users now have the option to select a self-driving Waymo vehicle for rides in the service area in Chandler, Mesa, Tempe and Gilbert.
Ten autonomous vehicles are in service for the partnership.
Waymo, which started out as Google’s self-driving car project, launched its own commercial self-driving ride-hailing service in the East Valley in December.
In December, the company launched Waymo One, a commercial self-driving ride-hailing service that now has more than 1,000 riders.
The new partnership with Lyft, announced in May, allows those outside of the Waymo One and early-rider programs to take a ride in an autonomous vehicle, likely for the first time.
“We’re committed to continuously improving our customer experience, and our partnership with Lyft will also give our teams the opportunity to collect valuable feedback,” CEO John Krafcik wrote in a blog post.
Waymo has driven more than 100 million self-driving miles throughout the past decade and has about 600 vehicles in its full fleet.
Array