00:04Cool blimey Governor, Waymo's coming to land and tan and I'm here to explain everything you need
00:10to know about the driverless taxis whether you're in the U.S. where it's already well established
00:14or in cities like London and Tokyo that are starting to see them roll out.
00:22This American autonomous driving tech company has been operating for
00:25years and as of March 2026 has 3,000 robo taxis in its fleet but this London launch will mark
00:32the
00:32second time it's available outside the U.S. following a debut in Tokyo Japan as its UK pilot
00:38kicks off this month April 2026 ahead of a full launch in September. The fleet comprises of a
00:43series of modified cars outfitted with a variety of sensors that can scan the road as the car
00:48drives to keep the taxi on track but we'll talk about that more in a moment.
00:55So how does Waymo work? If you've used a ride-hailing app like Uber or Lyft before
01:00Waymo will feel almost identical. Just like those services you open up the Waymo app in a supported
01:05area, choose where you want to get picked up and where you want to get dropped off and then wait
01:09for a driverless car to become available. It'll then drive to meet you and once in position start a
01:14five minute timer as it waits for you to arrive. The sensor around the top of the car will flash
01:19with your initials so you know which car is for you and the doors will remain locked until you open
01:23them using the app so no one's going to come along and steal your ride from you. Once everyone's in
01:28the car and safely buckled you hit the start ride button on either the front or rear seat screen
01:32and the car will whisk you away to your destination.
01:38Apart from there being no driver there are a few other differences. The first is you have full
01:44music control. There are several radio stations to choose from inside the car across a wide range
01:49of genres but you can also connect your Spotify or YouTube music account to the Waymo app to enjoy
01:55your own playlists while the driverless car is taking you around. You can also get more leg room in
02:00a Waymo if everyone is sat in the back as you have full control to squeeze the front seat forwards
02:04as far as you can. However you might find prices aren't much cheaper. Perhaps there will be some launch
02:10and pilot deals to take advantage of in London but in San Francisco I found that a Waymo was generally
02:16as expensive as an Uber when I wanted to book one, though I didn't need to tip the driver.
02:21Also they unfortunately cap at only 4 passengers and the Jaguar cars used in SF were a tight fit
02:27in the back. For groups of 2 or 3 Waymo is ideal but for bigger groups an Uber XL might
02:32be the better
02:33way forward. Lastly Waymo will have a more restrictive app than Uber does. Now most Uber drivers won't be
02:39keen to drive you from central London to some town well beyond the outskirts of the city. Believe me
02:43I've tried when trains have failed me. But they could in theory. Because of refuelling infrastructure
02:49Waymo's cars will likely be stuck in London proper and not go much beyond that. Just like how in San
02:55Francisco they can drive around the city as well as to and around San Jose but not much further.
03:03Driving comes with inherent dangers but according to its website Waymo's vehicles have 90%
03:08fewer serious injuries or worse crashes, 82% fewer airbag deployment crashes and 81% fewer injury
03:15causing crashes than regular human drivers. That's because the car is outfitted with a 360 degree
03:21array of LiDAR, radar and camera sensors that paint a complete map of the world around the car. Which you
03:27can see a simple version of on the screens inside the vehicle. Which shows you that the car can see
03:32other vehicles, bikes, pedestrians, literally everything around you. Waymo's tech is a little different to the
03:38technology used by some of its rivals such as Tesla robo taxis, which only rely on cameras and AI,
03:43not LiDAR and radar. As it stands that technology seems to be more prone to error due to environmental
03:48interference and that's why you might see and hear more worrying statistics when people talk about
03:53driverless vehicles as a whole. It's also worth remembering that we humans aren't perfect. We can
03:58only see in one direction at a time and have to deal with blind spots in our mirrors. Meanwhile,
04:02Waymo's cars have perfect vision. Yes, they do still get involved in accidents but a significantly
04:08lower rate than regular drivers. And personally, I felt a lot safer in my Waymo's than I have felt
04:13in many Ubers. The driverless car drove smoothly, merged with the right balance of caution and confidence
04:18and stuck to the speed limit.
04:23Not entirely. According to Waymo, while there are microphones in the car, they are only switched
04:28on when you request to talk to support, which you'll do if you need any assistance. However,
04:33the inside cameras are on all the time, so if you get up to anything that you shouldn't,
04:38Waymo will see and can penalise your account for it. This includes trying to grab the wheel and drive
04:43the taxi yourself or even sitting in the driver's seat, as one unnamed member of my San Francisco
04:48trip discovered. Just treat the car like there's someone in the front seat driving. Let them do their
04:53thing and don't be weird. And that's everything you need to know about Waymo. Let me know in the
04:58comments if you're excited to try a robo-taxi out when they launch in London. And make sure to
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