Since the first Waymo hit San Francisco’s streets in the summer of 2021, the robotaxis have been quick to attract fans, the occasional act of vandalism, or arson notwithstanding. The driverless car service opened in June to anyone with a smartphone, and just six months later it had gobbled up 22% of the city’s ride-hailing market.
But some fans are more fanatical than others. A growing tribe has become so enamored of Waymo that they use it nearly every day to grab groceries, meet friends, commute — or even skip a hill they don’t want to climb on foot.
The Standard set out to find some of the most addicted Waymo riders. Here’s what they had to say.
‘I’ll just take the $20’
Waymo addicts admit that the robot Jaguar is often more expensive than an Uber or Lyft, especially during peak times. But this doesn’t put them off.
“Sometimes, if it’s $20 versus $13, I’ll just take the $20,” said Sam Rosenberg, 36, a tech worker who has taken 686 Waymo rides since November 2023 and estimates he’s spent close to $14,000.
Rosenberg has been wary of human-driven ride-hail cars since he was in a Lyft whose driver struck the median on Divisadero Street. He believes Waymo is safer than other services, whose drivers can be “drunk or tired.”
Waymo did not respond to a request for comment but has widely publicized its safety record as being better than that of human drivers.
“After that, I just said, ‘I’d honestly rather trust the computer than a human,’” Rosenberg said. “I probably have a little bit too much blind faith in Big Tech.”
Do they ever walk anywhere?
Jane Manchun Wong, a 30-year-old expert hacker who once infiltrated Waymo’s software to show customized words and emojis on a car’s top display, has taken more than 500 trips in the robotaxis since August 2023. Sometimes she’ll summon one just to take her up the steep hill from the Marina District to her Pacific Heights home.
“I don’t really feel like I need a car anymore,” Wong said. “If I have to go beyond [San Francisco], I would just call an Uber instead. But that’s a one-off thing.”
Wong fears her step count has dropped due to her bond with Waymo. She’s not alone.
“That’s something I’m thinking about right now, like, how much I’ve been using the service rather than taking a bike or whatnot,” said Vincent Yasay, 38, a senior litigation manager at Lime. “I’ve been using Waymo a lot more often when the weather is bad, but this upcoming spring and summer, I might actually take some time outside.”
Yasay, who used to work for Lyft, has taken 268 rides, spending between $5 and $30 on each.
“I can actually time it to when I need to leave and when I’ll get there,” said Yasay, who uses Waymos almost exclusively to get to his SoMa office from the Dogpatch. “It’s pretty much always predictable.”
‘I’m an introvert’
Waymo lovers celebrate the fact that the lack of a driver relieves them of having to make small talk.
“I’m an introvert,” said Rosenberg. “The biggest draw for me is the flexibility and being able to redirect the car without any friction.”
“I don’t have to be performative just for the sake of my rating,” said Wong, who likes to sing K-Pop in the backseat. “I don’t have to keep coming up with stuff just to keep the vibe going.”
Josh Baillon, 50, who has taken 542 rides since the summer of 2023, said that during the 9,328 minutes he has spent in Waymos, he has enjoyed watching the automated driver progress.
“I recognize that [Waymo] is not perfect,” said Baillon, who works in digital innovation. “I am a participant because I like to try new things, and I know that it’s just going to get better over time. So some of these times where it gets stuck in situations, I’ll be more patient, because I know that they’re adapting.”
When Baillon first used Waymo, he was surprised at how secure he felt, compared with its rival Cruise, whose operations were suspended in October 2023 after a car dragged a woman 20 feet along a city street.
“I like the consistency of the vehicle,” Baillon said of Waymo. “It’s always clean. It’s nice and comfortable, and it’s always going to be the same. … There must be something psychological there, like this is my transport bubble.”