Waymo has more than 10,000 people on the waiting list for robot taxi

Waymo has transported hundreds of people in its robot taxis since it began testing in San Francisco in August, and tens of thousands more users are waiting for their turn to experience it, company co-chair Tekedra Mawakana told the Reuters conference Next, this Friday (3).

Waymo is owned by Alphabet, which also owns Google.

In August, Waymo began transporting a limited number of people in San Francisco in its autonomous vehicles, which are staffed by security drivers.

Waymo deliberately selected several people to participate in the tests, Mawakana said, to ensure that the feedback is representative of the general population — for example, half of passengers transported in San Francisco are women.

“In San Francisco, we were very focused on ensuring there was gender diversity because safety and transportation is a big issue. Not just road safety, but also physical safety,” said the executive.