Study Finds Self-Driving Waymos Are More Expensive Than Taxis, Take Twice as Long to Get to Destination
Pricy, but not very punctual.
Are autonomous taxis the way to go? Currently, only if you like demonstrably poorer service for your buck.
A new study conducted by Forbes reveals how Waymo, a leader in the robotaxi industry, still lags considerably behind human-driven ridesharing services in two key transportation metrics: time and money.
Over 50 rides, not only were Waymo rides more expensive, but they also took twice as long compared to a ridehailing service like Uber.
"The current status of [autonomous vehicles] means that cost and time sensitive customers still choose rideshare," reads the Forbes report. "For the time being, AVs will not be the low cost solution to transportation companies initially promised."
Forbes' test compared rides offered by Waymo, UberX, and Lyft in Los Angeles, and included various pick up and drop off points from morning till evening. They were graded on the price at booking, quoted time to pickup, and estimated time of arrival.
The autonomous vehicles performed worse in all respects.
Across the fifty samples, the average human-driven ride-hail price was $28.14, while an identical ride with a Waymo robotaxi cost $9.50 more — though that didn't include a tip for the human driver. Assuming you added a 20 percent gratuity, you'd still be paying about $3.87 more.
That's notable but not necessarily deal-breaking. Speed is where the gap broadens. The average time to pick up for Waymo was 7.2 minutes, compared to 3.4 for ridesharing, meaning that you'd be waiting twice as long on your robo-ride.
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