Via Transportation Inc., the public transit software maker that went public last Friday, will partner with Waymo to launch autonomous shared rides in Arizona this fall.
The program will start in Chandler, whose existing Flex service lets the public book cheap, shared shuttle rides via an app. It will offer some users the option to book a driverless ride with the Waymo app during periods of high demand, a Via spokesperson said.
Public partnerships is an important new area of expansion for self-driving companies as they work to add the services in new cities. Last year, Waymo started a public-transit credit program in San Francisco. Waymo, Alphabet Inc.’s self-driving unit, currently offers ride hailing in five US markets and provides hundreds of thousands of paid autonomous trips each week via its own app and through partners including Uber Technologies Inc. and soon
In Chandler, the addition of Waymo rides will help expand the capacity of its Flex public “microtransit” service, for which Via has implemented demand-matching and routing technology since it launched the partnership in 2022. Its software also allows the city government to monitor service performance, and meet federal funding, compliance and accessibility reporting requirements.
Users will have access to the driverless rides during the same operating hours and prices under the city’s Flex program, which charges $2 per ride.
Chandler was the first city where Waymo offered its driverless ride-hailing service in 2020. By making the vehicles available for the city’s transit program, Waymo could also ensure its cars are better utilized while being accessible to users at a lower price point.
Top photo: A Waymo autonomous taxi Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg.
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