Waymo says its robotaxis are now making 50,000 paid trips every week

If you’ve been seeing more Waymo robots in Phoenix, San Francisco, and Los Angeles recently, it’s because more and more people are calling them for a ride. There is a company owned by Alphabet announced Twitter/X reported that it already serves more than 50,000 paid trips per week across three cities. Waymo One operates 24/7 in some of those cities. If a company gets 50,000 walk-ins per week, that means it receives an average of 300 orders every hour, or five orders per minute. Waymo also announced that it was over a million horse-only journeys In four cities, including Austin, it currently offers limited rides to select members of the public.

In a statement, Waymo said it took a “safe and thoughtful approach” to expanding its program to reach the milestone. “We see people from all walks of life using our service to travel carefree, gain independence, restore their commute and more. Fully autonomous driving is a reality and the preferred mobility option for people navigating their cities every day,” he added.

Waymo certainly looks better than the recent Cruise reposted some of its autonomous vehicles follow a much needed break, which has had its share of controversy. Six Waymo robots in April blocked traffic on the San Francisco freeway, and this was just one of many instances where the company’s vehicles caused traffic jams. Earlier this year, two Waymo vehicles crashed into the same pickup truck back-to-back because their software incorrectly predicted the truck’s future movements. Company recalled the software to solve the problem after the incident and prevent similar incidents from happening.