A Stress-Free Journey with WAYMO: My First Ride

Deciding to take a break, we packed our bags and jetted off to the States. Wanting to chill and recharge, there were to be no thoughts of work, not until there was no chance of getting an Uber.

To get to the point, I was standing out front of Target in San Francisco, my phone in hand. I was frustrated that there were no available Ubers that I could book to get us back across the city to our hotel, then this weird car drove past. It had all sorts of boxes, swirly and whizzy things hanging off each corner and what looked like a satellite box sat on top, but the oddest thing was that there was no driver.

It was a white Jaguar I-Pace, and on the door was a sign saying WAYMO with a QR code. Now that I saw one, there were loads of them. People sat in the back and the car drove them around the place. Still with my phone in hand, I caught the QR code and downloaded the WAYMO app from the Play Store.

Set up was easy, I created a login, gave my code they had sent me on text, and I was ready to hail my first WAYMO. The app was easy to use. I selected a pick-up point outside a hotel, just across the road from us, and the app instantly went to work. Giving me directions, down to the metre of where I needed to stand. I could also see the car that had been assigned to me coming through traffic on the app with a minute countdown timer.

Suddenly, the car appeared at the junction, and I saw it pull into the hotel drop-off zone. The app told me the car was there, and a button appeared for me to push, which unlocked the car, and we hopped in. Inside it was a very nice car, with black leather seats, all electric, with plenty of room. The car spoke to us filling in what we needed to know, buckled up and the car was off.

Pulling into the traffic, it was disconcerting as it was quite aggressive and watching the steering wheel spin by itself felt a little like witchcraft. But once the lights changed and cars started to move the WAYMO was off and it showed me exactly what it was doing on the little screen in the back.

Watching the screen, I could see the cars, vans, and trucks moving around us, as well as pedestrians and even a blob for their dog. Compared to the nail-biting ride we had taken with the Uber driver, this felt safer and more in control. No one was messing with their phone, accepting their next job, cutting up others to make one car length in traffic, it was just making progress.

I relaxed and enjoyed the journey, letting the car do its thing and allowing me to look outside and take in the surroundings. I even got my mobile out and used the app to view the route, change the in-car music and even check out the other features, such as changing drop off and checking my account.

The WAYMO car did not disappoint. It got us to our hotel, and as we jumped out, the voice thanked us and wished us a great day. It was a breath of fresh air, less stressful, and the cost was cheaper than an UBER so there were wins all around.

For the geeks out there, early the following morning, as we walked past a multi-storey car park on the junction of Mason Street and North Point Street, we found the WAYMO hide. A line of white Jaguars with all the sensors and scanners were leaving, ready for the next cohort of riders.

From my experience, I believe that the future of safe taxi travel is in AI, and WAYMO gets my vote. The only bit I am struggling with is the removal of a job opportunity for people who want to make a living. But the proviso is that these people need to learn how to drive safely and concentrate on the road, so it is not a big concern when it comes to safety.