Support for LAist comes from
Local and national news, NPR, things to do, food recommendations and guides to Los Angeles, Orange County and the Inland Empire
Stay Connected
Listen

Share This

Transportation and Mobility

Driverless Taxi Service Waymo One Is Coming To Santa Monica

A white four-door sedan with a camera on top of it is zipping through a street
Waymo is coming to Los Angeles.
(
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
/
Getty Images North America
)

Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.

Topline:

Waymo One, a driverless taxi service, will be available to the public in locations across the L.A. area, starting with Santa Monica on Oct. 11.

Why it matters: You can hail Waymo's driverless cars in places like Phoenix, San Francisco, and now L.A. However, the cars have been a source of controversy for sometimes stalling in the middle of the road.

Who's in charge: Waymo is owned by Google's parent company Alphabet Inc., which began working on the project in 2009.

Support for LAist comes from

The backstory: In San Francisco, which has seen protestors immobilize Waymo cars by blocking their cameras — with orange traffic cones.

What's next: The cars will be available to the public until Nov. 18. They'll be available in other parts of the metro area in the coming months.

To catch a ride, though, you'd need to go to a "pop up" event to get a special code. See the full list of dates and locations here.

As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.

Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.

We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.

No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.

Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.

Thank you for your generous support and believing in independent news.

Chip in now to fund your local journalism
A row of graphics payment types: Visa, MasterCard, Apple Pay and PayPal, and  below a lock with Secure Payment text to the right
(
LAist
)

Trending on LAist