"Tourists gawked and climbed in for joy rides, but Waymo tended to be slower and more expensive than the human-driven alternatives. Now new data and analysis from the ride-hail price aggregator company Obi finds that the novel services' prices and wait times are getting more competitive in the Bay Area. It could be a sign that the tech is moving closer to its promise to provide cheaper and widely available rides-which might eventually put human drivers out of business."
"Waymo is particularly competitive outside of rush hours, the analysis found. The price gap between the human- and robot-driven services gets even smaller as the rides get longer-convenient, because Waymos just started driving on some highways in November. Waymo riders pay $3.67 per kilometer for rides between 4.3 and 9.3 kilometers (2.6 to 5.8 miles), compared to $3.60 for Uber and $3.14 for Lyft."
San Francisco travelers can choose among Uber, Lyft, Waymo, and Tesla's ride services, with Tesla operating human-driven rides in California and robotaxis in Texas. Novel robotaxi options initially felt like novelties and were often slower and costlier than human-driven alternatives. Obi's price analysis shows Waymo's fares have moved from 30–40% higher to 13% above Uber and 27% above Lyft as of November–December 2025, with particularly strong competitiveness outside rush hours. The price gap shrinks on longer trips after Waymos began highway driving in November; Waymo fares averaged $3.67/km versus $3.60/km for Uber and $3.14/km for Lyft. Improved wait times accompany the narrowing price differences, raising the prospect of broader, cheaper autonomous rides and potential impacts on human drivers.
Read at WIRED
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]