--- title: "Yep, It’s Real: Your Next Rideshare Could Be Driverless in as Soon as a Month" description: "According to Bloomberg, Waymo is about to announce the world's first commercial driverless car service in Phoenix, Arizona, putting them ahead of the curve." date: "2018-11-13" modified: "2018-11-13" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/report-waymo-unveil-first-driverless-rideshare" categories: - "Advanced Transport" tags: - "autonomous taxi" - "driverless cars" - "Uber" - "waymo" --- # Yep, It’s Real: Your Next Rideshare Could Be Driverless in as Soon as a Month ![According to Bloomberg, Waymo is about to announce the world's first commercial driverless car service in Phoenix, Arizona, putting them ahead of the curve.]() *\Image: Waymo\* ## Game Changer We may not have to wait much longer to jump in a taxi without a human driver. According to *Bloomberg*, Waymo is [about to unveil]() the world's first driverless ride-hailing service as soon as next month. Waymo has yet to officially announce a new name for the project. ## Phoenix Rising According to *Bloomberg*'s source*,* the service will be limited to a handful of authorized cars in a 100 square mile area across a number of Phoenix suburbs. The Alphabet-owned company has been test driving its modified driverless Chrysler Pacifica minivans on the streets of Silicon Valley and Arizona for some time now. Since March of this year, Waymo's Early Rider Program has allowed test groups — including families — to go for driverless rides around Phoenix. Those Early Riders will be the first to access the new program, according to *Bloomberg*. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqRMTWqhwzM ## Waymo' Driverless Miles It's very likely Waymo will want to expand the commercial service to different parts of the country, but that might take some time. While its driverless technology is already [ahead of the curve](), Waymo's approach is to slowly expand to other areas without incurring [major setbacks]() such as a crash. Waymo is already planning on [adding 62,000 hybrid minivans](), and 20,000 electric Jaguar I-Pace SUVs to its driverless fleet by 2020. ## Driverless Nation Time will tell whether we'll see Waymo's driverless minivans give people rides. But opening a fully fledged driverless service to the masses would be bound to give Waymo unprecedented visibility. The takeaway: It's starting to look as though it's no longer a matter of "if," but "when" Uber and Lyft drivers will be replaced with sophisticated technology. READ MORE: [Waymo to Start First Driverless Car Service Next Month]() \[*Bloomberg*\] More on autonomous cars: [Waymo Plans to Deploy The Largest Fleet of Autonomous Vehicles by 2020]() ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()