00:00Cool blimey Governor, Waymo's coming to Land and Tan!
00:03And I'm here to explain everything you need to know about the driverless taxis, whether
00:08you're in the US where it's already well established, or in cities like London and
00:12Tokyo that are starting to see them roll out.
00:14This American autonomous driving tech company has been operating for years, and as of March
00:192026 has 3,000 robo-taxis in its fleet.
00:23But this London launch will mark the second time it's available outside the US, following
00:27a debut in Tokyo, Japan, as its UK pilot kicks off this month, April 2026, ahead of a full
00:34launch in September.
00:35The fleet comprises of a series of modified cars outfitted with a variety of sensors that
00:39can scan the road as the car drives to keep the taxi on track.
00:42But we'll talk about that more in a moment.
00:45So how does Waymo work?
00:46If you've used a ride-hailing app like Uber or Lyft before, Waymo will feel almost identical.
00:51Just like those services, you open up the Waymo app in a supported area, choose where you want
00:55to get picked up and where you want to get dropped off, and then wait for a driverless
00:59car to become available.
01:00It'll then drive to meet you, and once in position, start a 5 minute timer as it waits
01:05for you to arrive.
01:06The sensor around the top of the car will flash with your initials so you know which car is
01:10for you, and the doors will remain locked until you open them using the app, so no one's
01:14going to come along and steal your ride from you.
01:16Once everyone's in the car and safely buckled, you hit the Start Ride button on either the front
01:21or rear seat screen, and the car will whisk you away to your destination.
01:25Apart from there being no driver, there are a few other differences.
01:29The first is you have full music control.
01:31There are several radio stations to choose from inside the car across a wide range of
01:35genres, but you can also connect your Spotify or YouTube music account to the Waymo app to
01:41enjoy your own playlists while the driverless car is taking you around.
01:45You can also get more legroom in a Waymo if everyone is sat in the back, as you have full
01:49control to squeeze the front seat forwards as far as you can.
01:52However, you might find prices aren't much cheaper.
01:55Perhaps there will be some launch and pilot deal to take advantage of in London, but in
02:00San Francisco I found that a Waymo was generally as expensive as an Uber when I wanted to book
02:05one, though I didn't need to tip the driver.
02:07Also they unfortunately cap at only 4 passengers, and the Jaguar cars used in SF were a tight fit
02:13in the back.
02:14For groups of 2 or 3, Waymo is ideal, but for bigger groups an Uber XL might be the better
02:19way forward.
02:20Lastly, Waymo will have a more restrictive app than Uber does.
02:24Now, most Uber drivers won't be keen to drive you from central London to some town well beyond
02:28the outskirts of the city.
02:29Believe me, I've tried when trains have failed me.
02:32But they could in theory.
02:34Because of refuelling infrastructure, Waymo's cars will likely be stuck in London proper and
02:38not go much beyond that.
02:40It's just like how in San Francisco they can drive around the city as well as to and
02:44around San Jose, but not much further.
02:46Driving comes with inherent dangers, but according to its website, Waymo's vehicles have 90%
02:52fewer serious injuries or worse crashes, 82% fewer airbag deployment crashes, and 81% fewer
02:58injury-causing crashes than regular human drivers.
03:01That's because the car is outfitted with a 360-degree array of LiDAR, radar, and camera
03:07sensors that paint a complete map of the world around the car, which you can see a simple
03:11version of on the screens inside the vehicle.
03:14Which shows you that the car can see other vehicles, bikes, pedestrians, literally everything
03:19around you.
03:19Waymo's tech is a little different to the technology used by some of its rivals, such
03:23as Tesla robo-taxis, which only rely on cameras and AI, not LiDAR and radar.
03:28As it stands, that technology seems to be more prone to error due to environmental interference,
03:33and that's why you might see and hear more worrying statistics when people talk about
03:37driverless vehicles as a whole.
03:39It's also worth remembering that we humans aren't perfect.
03:42We can only see in one direction at a time and have to deal with blind spots in our mirrors.
03:46Meanwhile, Waymo's cars have perfect vision.
03:48Yes, they do still get involved in accidents, but a significantly lower rate than regular drivers,
03:53and personally, I felt a lot safer in my Waymo's than I have felt in many Ubers.
03:57The driverless car drove smoothly, merged with the right balance of caution and confidence,
04:01and stuck to the speed limit.
04:03According to Waymo, while there are microphones in the car, they are only switched on when
04:07you request a talk to support, which you'll do if you need any assistance.
04:11However, the inside cameras are on all the time, so if you get up to anything that you
04:16shouldn't, Waymo will see and can penalise your account for it.
04:19This includes trying to grab the wheel and drive the taxi yourself, or even sitting in
04:23the driver's seat, as one unnamed member of my San Francisco trip discovered.
04:28Just treat the car like there's someone in the front seat driving, let them do their
04:31thing and don't be weird.
04:33And that's everything you need to know about Waymo.
04:36Let me know in the comments if you're excited to try a robo-taxi out when they launch in
04:40London, and make sure to subscribe for more excellent TechRadar content.
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