The Brief

Self-driving cars seem to be taking over the streets of Los Angeles as Waymo continues to expand throughout the county, including in Santa Monica, West Hollywood, and Culver City.

More than 150,000 people signed up for the waitlist this past March for a chance to catch one of the autonomous rides, according to Waymo. The app is still invite only, so you’ll need to secure a special code from the company to cut in line. Otherwise, you’ll be notified when they’re ready to welcome new riders.

According to Waymo, the cars have more than 20 billion miles of simulated driving experience, using detailed custom maps and its advanced suite of sensors to get you to your destination. But there are reports noting the self-driving cars sometimes run into issues with unprotected left turns and rain-soaked roads.

The current Waymo operating area as of September 5, 2024.

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Screenshot from Waymo website

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So is the unique, futuristic concept all it's cracked up to be? Well, my colleague Kevin Tidmarsh and I put it to the test — the good, the bad, and the ugly.

The set-up

We teamed up to go roundtrip from downtown L.A. to Koreatown using Waymo. The idea was to give the cars relatively challenging routes full of potential obstacles — one-way streets, unprotected lefts and all, right during rush hour.

The first ride was called shortly after 3 p.m. on a Friday from South Spring Street to Hobart Boulevard. The Waymo took about 17 minutes to arrive and cost us just under $20. That was about the same price as other rideshare options, but a much longer wait.

We jumped in the second ride back to downtown shortly after 4 p.m. This one took five minutes to arrive, mostly because it was the exact same car, and also cost us about $20. That was about $6 cheaper than Uber or Lyft.

The positives

Both the pick-ups and drop-offs were convenient. We were able to find the cars, and the cars were able to find us — in public parking lots that were mostly empty. For our first ride, that meant we had to walk a bit farther than originally intended, but the car accounted for the distance and gave us a few extra minutes to get there.

The door handles are only accessible after you hit an unlock button in the app, which can be a bit confusing for first-time riders, but is helpful from a safety standpoint.

Now, the car was quite nice. It was spotless, there were two easily accessible charging ports, a pair of screens in the back and front, as well as several curated playlists to choose from for the roughly 15 minute ride.

Waymo uses a fleet of Jaguar electric cars, so yes, compared to my hand-me-down Honda CR-V, it’s a big upgrade.

As you approach your Waymo for a ride, your initials are displayed on the rotating object on top of the car.

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Makenna Sievertson

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LAist

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A robotic voice welcomed us as we slid in the seats, and Kevin, my partner in crime, said it “smells like a Macy’s.” The crisp, clean, and noticeably inoffensive business casual clothes section though, not the mid-priced perfume department.

While the driving wasn’t always so smooth (we’ll get to this, trust me) there were a few notable positives.

The Waymo always used its blinker, which is better than some drivers in the city.

It also stopped slowly and gently at most stop lights, leaving an appropriate amount of space between us and the crosswalk.

The screens mapped every single vehicle, scooter, bike, and person in the car’s immediate vicinity, tracking them like little video game characters so we knew what was going on around us.

It was very responsive to obstacles, almost too responsive, and it would regularly readjust the wheel to avoid anything even remotely in our way, making for an occasionally rough ride.

The negatives

The car was comfortable, but the driving didn’t start out strong. Let’s just say it did things the DMV wouldn’t want a human driver to do.

As we were leaving the downtown L.A. area, we almost immediately ran a stop light. To the car’s credit, it was yellow when we entered the intersection, but it clearly didn’t intend to slow down or stop. It also didn’t speed up from our consistent 25 mph cruise to try and beat the yellow.

“It was, like, barely legal, if it was legal,” Kevin said as we passed.

“That definitely felt ticket worthy,” I replied.

Kevin Tidmarsh taps the "start ride" button in a self-driving Waymo car in Koreatown on Friday, August 30.

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Makenna Sievertson

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LAist

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While Waymo did use its blinker, we noticed that it sometimes was signaling in the wrong direction. The car also seemed to prefer to change lanes in the middle of an intersection, which isn’t illegal, but also isn’t recommended.

It regularly drove in dedicated bus lanes and struggled to respond to someone attempting to parallel park, inching closer and closer to the car while they tried to reverse into the spot. It also casually drove down the middle of two lanes at one point.

Again, the car was responsive to potential obstacles, which meant we had some jarring and sudden stops along the way. If a pedestrian stepped into the street on the opposite end of traffic, or a mail delivery vehicle was parked slightly in the lane, the Waymo seemed to slam on the brakes.

And it did feel a little strange to be in the backseat of a car that so many people were staring at. We got enthusiastic waves from small children and many lingering looks from people around us. But we’ll never really know whether they were annoyed with, or amused by, the self-driving set-up.

A driver looks at a Waymo autonomous self-driving Jaguar driving along a street near Venice Beach on March 14, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.

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Mario Tama

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Getty Images North America

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Final thoughts

Overall, although the driving was occasionally questionable, it did feel safe.

Neither of us felt completely at ease during the first trip, analyzing the Waymo’s every move for signs of trouble.

“I’m watching every car that passes with bated breath, just like how is it going to handle it,” Kevin said. “To be honest, sometimes it handles it well, sometimes it doesn’t.”

“I’m watching more intently than I would if it was a human driver,” I said. “Part of it is curiosity, but part of it is [being] scared.”

What the Waymo screens show when you're taking a ride, including a detailed map of every vehicle, person, bike, and scooter around you.

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Makenna Sievertson

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LAist

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But we calmed down by the second round, at least enough to enjoy a Sabrina Carpenter song on the pop preset station (the driverless cars are great for karaoke with EDM, Disney hits, and Bollywood stations — here’s an idea for another late-night talk show segment).

Our verdict: We’d consider calling one of the self-driving cars if we weren’t in a rush to get home and they continued to be a cheaper option. But a share of your payment (plus tips) won’t be going to human drivers, as with most ride-hailing apps.

“There were a couple points that were a little bit hairy,” Kevin said. “There were some decisions it made that I wouldn’t have made as a driver … but there were lots of parts of the experience that definitely did make me feel comfortable.”

However, there’s a notable knock against the service now — Waymo doesn’t have as many cars on the road as other rideshare options, and its routes are limited to nearly 80 square miles of L.A. County.

At least we know our fears were mostly unfounded, Waymo can handle one-way streets or unprotected left turns pretty dang well.

Topline:

The case: In September, the city settled a lawsuit brought forward by two brothers in their 70s who said they suffered serious injuries after an LAPD officer crashed into their car. Days before the $18 million settlement was reached, lawyers for the brothers said Feldstein Soto called an expert witness testifying for the plaintiffs and “attempted to ingratiate herself with him and asked him to make a contribution to her political campaign,” according to a sworn declaration to the court by the plaintiffs’ attorney, Robert Glassman.

The response: Feldstein Soto did not respond to an interview request. Her spokesperson said the settlement “had nothing to do” with the expert witness. Her campaign manager told LAist the city attorney had been making a routine fundraising call and did not know the person had a role in the case, nor that there were pending requests for her office to pay him fees.

What Jurado says: In a statement to LAist, Jurado said she wants to “make sure that the city’s legal leadership is guided by integrity and accountability, especially when their choices affect public trust, civic rights and the city’s limited resources."

What’s next: The motion needs to go through a few committees before reaching the full City Council. If it passes, the motion calls for the city attorney to “report to council in closed session within 45 days regarding the ethics breach violation and give updates to the City Council."

Every year in Santa Ana, Luis Cantabrana turns the front of his home into an elaborate altar in honor of La Virgen de Guadalupe that draws hundreds of visitors.

Along the front of the house, the multi-colored altar is filled with lights, flowers and a stained-glass tapestry behind a sculpture of the Lady of Guadalupe. Cantabrana’s roof also is lit up with the green, white and red lights that spell out “Virgen de Guadalupe” and a cross.

Visitors are welcomed with music and the smell of roses as they celebrate the saint, but this year’s gathering comes after a dark year for immigrant communities.

Luis Cantabrana stands in front of the stunning altar he built in front of his home in honor of La Virgen de Guadalupe. Every year, his display draws hundreds of visitors.

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Destiny Torres

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Why do they celebrate? 

In 1513, the Virgin Mary appeared before St. Juan Diego between Dec. 9 and Dec. 12, asking him to build a church in her honor. Her image — a brown-skinned woman wearing a green veil with her hands together in prayer and an angel at her feet — miraculously appeared on his cloak.

To celebrate in Santa Ana, worshippers gathered late-night Wednesday and in the very early hours Dec. 12 to pray the rosary, sing hymns and celebrate the saint.

Cantabrana has hosted worshippers at his home for 27 years — 17 in Santa Ana.

The altar started out small, he said, and over the years, he added a fabric background, more lights and flowers (lots and lots of flowers).

“It started with me making a promise to la Virgen de Guadalupe that while I had life and a home to build an altar, that I would do it,” Cantabrana said. “Everything you see in photos and videos is pretty, but when you come and see it live, it's more than pretty. It's beautiful.”

The Santa Ana home's elaborate altar in honor of La Virgen de Guadalupe draws hundreds of visitors each year.

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Destiny Torres

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LAist

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Gathering in a time of turmoil 

Many also look to the Lady of Guadalupe for protection, especially at a time when federal enforcement has rattled immigrant communities.

“People don’t want to go to work, they don’t want to take their kids to school, but the love we have for our Virgen de Guadalupe,” Cantabrana said. “We see that la Virgen de Guadalupe has a lot of power, and so we know immigration [enforcement] won’t come here.”

Margarita Lopez of Garden Grove has been visiting the altar for three years with her husband. She’s been celebrating the Virgencita since she was a young girl. Honoring the saint is as important now as ever, she said.

“We ask, and she performs miracles,” Lopez said.

Claudia Tapia, a lifelong Santa Ana resident, said the Virgin Mary represents strength.

“Right now, with everything going on, a lot of our families [have] turned and prayed to the Virgen for strength during these times,” Tapia said. “She's a very strong symbol of Mexican culture, of unity, of faith and of resilience.”

See it for yourself

The shrine will stay up into the new year on the corner of Broadway and Camile Street.

California’s unemployment agency kept paying cellphone bills for 4 1/2 years without checking whether its workers actually were using the devices.

That’s how it racked up $4.6 million in fees for mobile devices its workers were not using, according to a new state audit detailing wasteful spending at several government agencies.

The Employment Development Department’s excessive cellphone bills date to the COVID-19 pandemic, when it shifted call center employees to remote work and faced pressure to release benefits to millions of suddenly unemployed Californians.

It acquired 7,224 cellphones and wireless hotspots by December 2020. State auditors analyzed 54 months of invoices since then and found half the devices were unused for at least two years, 25% were unused for three years and 99 of them were never used at all.

The investigation, which auditors opened after receiving a tip, identified 6,285 devices that were unused for at least four consecutive months, and said the department spent $4.6 million on monthly service fees for them.

From the beginning, the department had about 2,000 more cellphones than call center employees, according to the audit. The gap widened over time after the pandemic ended and the department’s staffing returned to its normal headcount.

As of April, the audit said the department had 1,787 unemployment call center employees, but was paying monthly service fees for 5,097 mobile devices.

“Although obtaining the mobile devices during COVID-19 may have been a good idea to serve the public, continuing to pay the monthly service fees for so many unused devices, especially post-COVID-19, was wasteful,” the audit said.

Department officials told auditors they were unaware of the spending, but auditors pointed to regular invoices from Verizon that showed which phones were not being used.

“We would have expected EDD management to have reconsidered the need to pay the monthly service fees for so many devices that had no voice, message, or data usage,” the audit said.

The unemployment department began acting on the auditors’ findings in April, when it canceled service plans for 2,825 devices. It has since implemented a policy to terminate service plans for devices that go unused for 90 days.

The California state auditor highlighted the mobile devices in its regular report on “improper activities by state agencies and employees.” The audit also showed that the California Air Resources Board overpaid an employee who was on extended leave as he prepared to retire by $171,000.

This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.