Waymo’s robotaxis are now making passenger trips to the Phoenix airport
Waymo is ready to tackle the chaos of airport drop-offs and pickups in Phoenix. The Alphabet company says it is the first autonomous vehicle company to include a busy metropolitan airport in its service area. The company had previously only offered airport trips to its employees with safety drivers behind the wheel.
Expanding its service area to include Phoenix’s Sky Harbor International Airport represents a potential moneymaking opportunity for Waymo, with the company noting that airport trips account for an estimated 20 percent of manually driven ride-hail cars. AV companies are under intense pressure to begin generating revenue as the industry shrinks, tech stocks plummet, and economic forecasts look gloomier.