For a month now, Waymo has been offering rides in its robocars to select customers in Phoenix, Ariz. To help expand the ridership, the company is adding 500 vehicles to its fleet of self-driving Chrysler Pacifica minivans, a sixfold increase.
A customer hails a ride through a phone app; when it arrives, there will be a professional driver behind the wheel who can take over should the software get flummoxed. Waymo’s record for such human interventions is far and away the best in the business, at a mere 1 instance for every 800 kilometers traveled.
