I recently found myself sitting in the back of a Jaguar I-PACE with no one behind the wheel, cruising through downtown San Francisco during rush hour. As a tech journalist who’s covered autonomous vehicle developments for years, experiencing Waymo’s driverless taxi service firsthand was both thrilling and surprisingly mundane – which might be the company’s greatest achievement.
The experience begins with Waymo’s app, which functions much like Uber or Lyft but with one significant difference: no driver will greet you. After requesting a ride near Union Square, I watched on my screen as a white Jaguar with Waymo’s distinctive rooftop sensor array approached. The vehicle pulled precisely to the curb, doors unlocked automatically, and a pleasant voice welcomed me aboard.
What strikes you immediately is the transparency of the system. Inside the vehicle, screens show passengers exactly what the car “sees” – pedestrians represented as purple figures, other vehicles as rectangles, and the planned route highlighted in blue. This visualization serves dual purposes: reassuring passengers while demonstrating the system’s advanced perception capabilities.
As we merged into the chaotic Market Street traffic, I observed how the Waymo handled complex scenarios that challenge even experienced human drivers. When a pedestrian stepped slightly off the curb against the light, the vehicle slowed smoothly, maintaining a buffer that felt neither overcautious nor uncomfortably close.
“Our vehicles are designed to drive conservatively but not timidly,” explained Saswat Panigrahi, Waymo’s Vice President of Strategy, in a recent interview. “They follow traffic laws precisely while adapting to local driving norms.”
This balance was evident throughout my 25-minute journey. The Waymo maintained consistent following distances, signaled lane changes well in advance, and navigated four-way stops with a decisiveness many human drivers lack. When a delivery truck double-parked, partially blocking our lane, the system identified the obstacle, checked for clearance, and smoothly navigated around it without hesitation.
According to data from the California DMV, Waymo vehicles experienced just 0.08 disengagements per 1,000 miles driven in 2022 – a remarkable improvement from 0.76 the previous year. My experience aligned with these statistics; the ride felt smooth, predictable, and notably less jerky than many rideshare experiences with human drivers.
The technology enabling this experience represents over 20 million miles of real-world driving and billions of simulated miles. Waymo’s fifth-generation Driver system employs an array of lidar, radar, and cameras, processing this sensor data through advanced machine learning algorithms trained to handle virtually any road scenario.
What fascinated me most was how quickly the experience normalized. After about ten minutes, I found myself checking email, gazing out the window at the city, and generally forgetting that no human was controlling this two-ton vehicle navigating complex urban traffic. This psychological shift from novelty to normalcy may be the most significant hurdle autonomous vehicles must overcome for mass adoption.
Not everything was perfect. At one particularly congested intersection near Fisherman’s Wharf, the Waymo waited longer than a human might have to make a right turn, seemingly seeking a larger gap in pedestrian traffic than strictly necessary. And when a fire truck approached with sirens blaring, the vehicle pulled over appropriately but took several seconds longer than surrounding human drivers to react.
These minor quirks highlight an important reality: autonomous vehicles don’t need to be perfect; they simply need to be better than humans, who cause over 40,000 traffic deaths annually in the United States alone. Early data suggests Waymo is achieving this benchmark, with no at-fault accidents resulting in serious injuries or fatalities across its driverless fleet operations.
The economics of autonomous taxis remain challenging. Waymo’s vehicles, equipped with over $100,000 in specialized hardware, must operate continuously to recoup their cost. Yet the potential benefits are enormous. A recent MIT study suggested fully autonomous taxi fleets could reduce urban transportation costs by up to 40% while significantly cutting emissions and congestion.
For San Francisco residents, Waymo represents a glimpse of a transportation future that seemed like science fiction just a decade ago. The service currently operates throughout most of San Francisco and is expanding to other cities including Phoenix and Los Angeles.
As my ride concluded and the Jaguar precisely navigated to my destination, I couldn’t help reflecting on how this technology will reshape our cities, our economies, and our relationship with transportation. The truly remarkable aspect wasn’t that I had just traveled across San Francisco without a driver – it was how unremarkable the experience had become by journey’s end.
For better or worse, the future of urban transportation has arrived on San Francisco’s streets. It’s efficient, it’s precise, and most surprisingly – it already feels normal.
