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Transportation & 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
)

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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.

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.

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