Ready or Not, the Robotaxis Are Coming

In Los Angeles, it is possible — right now — to drive from Santa Monica to West Hollywood without touching a steering wheel or gas pedal (provided you don't get on the freeway).

In Phoenix, you can go from the airport to an appointment downtown and back without interacting with a driver. In San Francisco, you can cruise the Embarcadero all the way down to Oracle Park for a Giants game, and then head over to the Presidio for a view of the Golden Gate Bridge without so much as checking your rear view.

Driverless taxi cabs, or robotaxis, long thought to be "just a few years away," have arrived, deployed by a handful of big American companies on the roads of a small but growing number of American cities.

Now, two of the leading robotaxi providers told Newsweek they are just looking for people to embrace the technology.

"We envision a not-so-distant future in which people become less dependent on personal vehicles because of the increased accessibility and convenience of [autonomous] ride-hailing," Chris Ludwick, director of product management at Waymo, told Newsweek.

"This shared mobility model then enables people to more easily access other safe and sustainable transit options, like public transit, cycling, and biking; but we also anticipate driving alongside human-operated vehicles for years to come."