Anyone used WAYMO driverless cars in Los Angeles?

[cove]

We are seeing multiple WAYMO driverless Jaguar vehicles running around Los Angeles carrying passengers.
Has anyone tried it?
Do you tip?
How do you get luggage into the vehicle?
How does it know when you are ready to go? Is it based on the fastening of the seatbelts or something else?

 

[tgh]

I have also watched them in SFO , seemed to be very positive in their driving style.. did not risk it tho….

 

[henrus]

I used it twice recently in LA. Annoyingly it didn’t cover LAX and its limited to route off freeways.

Do you tip?

Nope, no driver and no option to even tip in the app. I found in San Francisco the price was a bit more expensive than Uber/Lyft whereas in LA it was cheaper by a couple of dollars.

How do you get luggage into the vehicle?

Same as normal, car just doesn’t take off. Likewise when it arrives the vehicle is locked until you unlock it via app or have the proximity Bluetooth unlock enabled.

How does it know when you are ready to go? Is it based on the fastening of the seatbelts or something else?

You have to press start on the screen in the front or back. First time riders get a little video played about it but next trips just get in and press start.

Screen in the back and front show you how long, you can ask it to pull over, change the music and charge your phone 2x USB C ports.

At least in LA all the cars are fully electric jags. At first it was a bit odd but you get used to it, I’ve had a lot worse human uber drivers but the self driving was noticeably cautious around pedestrians.

 

[cove]

Thanks @henrus for your input.We leave on Tuesday so we won’t be using it this trip.
We saw 5 Waymo vehicles with passengers when we were returning from Warner Bros tour in Burbank to Marina del Rey so it made us curious.
Mrscove is not convinced that it is something she wants to use.

 

[levelnine]

Used in SF. They're great fun. Very easy to use — just follow the instructions in the app.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

We are seeing multiple WAYMO driverless Jaguar vehicles running around Los Angeles carrying passengers.
Has anyone tried it?

Yes I've used it in Phoenix back in late 2023. You download the Waymo app on your phone and then use it the same way you'd use Uber. Once the car arrives you get in as you would a normal Uber (I forgot if you need to press a button in the app or not to let you in).

Do you tip?

I suppose you could but personally I don't tip for anything as I always use the European excuse, "I'm European and in Europe we pay people a living wage."

How do you get luggage into the vehicle?

Similar to any other Uber vehicle, you open the trunk and load your stuff in. Same thing for unloading. At least this was my experience having done some shopping at Costco USA and Wal-Mart USA after leaving behind items in my hotel in Minneapolis the night before.

How does it know when you are ready to go? Is it based on the fastening of the seatbelts or something else?

The vehicle has a lot of sensors inside and around the car so it can tell fairly accurately when it is ready to go. It's sort of magical the whole thing to be honest.

 

[Happy Dude]

Saw a FB/TT post about one in China by two Western Sydney bogans who may have been on their first trip anywhere such was their over-the-top enthusiastic yet naive presenting style. Only other memorable thing was the cost, which was incredibly cheap, apparently.

I'd give it a whirl. Not that long ago we were asking "Will you use Uber?". Incredible how quickly the interrupters have been interrupted.

 

[Catardale]

We were in LA late last year two days after they started being used there. They are sensational. No doubt your first trip is a real eye opener but once that initial weirdness settles down they are incredible. I was a major no-driver sceptic beforehand but they won me over straight away. They were always cheaper than Uber, all new Jaguars, no annoying smelly drivers who were just finishing an 18 hour shift, stream your own music. As noted above they don’t currently go to LAX but presumably in time they will. Absolutely incredible, so if you have a chance definitely use them. We used Waymo every time we could in LA and felt much safer than when having an actual. If it can handle rush hour in LA it should be able to handle just about anything.