I Took a Waymo Ride, Compared the Price to Uber and Lyft

I wanted to get from my hotel near Union Square to a meeting about 12 minutes away, so I pulled out my phone to check availability and prices.

I was traveling close to 9:30 a.m., so I expected to hit rush-hour traffic and see higher prices than if I had waited until later in the day.

Despite not having a human driver to pay, Waymo charged me more than Uber or Lyft would have for the same trip.

After booking with Waymo, I pulled up the two other ride-hailing services to compare prices. An UberX ride would have cost around $13, while Lyft, which was running a discount when I checked, would have charged about $10.

With a 20% tip, the Uber ride would have cost about the same as Waymo, but the Lyft ride would’ve been a few dollars cheaper.

A Waymo spokesperson said that the company looks at multiple factors when pricing rides, such as the trip’s duration and distance. “During busier times, such as morning rush hour and weekends, prices may be higher,” the spokesperson said.

Self-driving cars, especially ones operated by Waymo, are everywhere in the center of San Francisco.

During the six-minute wait for my ride, I noticed at least a half-dozen other Waymo vehicles drive by, including two right next to each other. Going around town over the previous couple of days, I found out how hard it was to even walk around a city block without seeing at least one or two self-driving cars.

I initially missed the notification that my car had arrived. As I looked around my pickup location, though, I couldn’t see a Waymo stopped near me.

After checking the map, I realized that it had stopped down the block and up another street. While it took less than a minute to walk there, I wondered why the car had not navigated to my designated pick-up point. Waymo declined to comment on the trip.

I knew that this was my car from the license plate, which was on-screen in the Waymo app. My initials were also visible on the console that was on the roof.

The street where my car stopped wasn’t as busy as the one I waited on, which might explain why it was there.

I found it funny that there were three other Waymo cars stopped behind it.

I had to slide this button forward in the Waymo app to indicate I was ready to leave.

Sitting in the back of the electric Jaguar I-Pace, I noticed a screen on the console between the two front seats.

As the car started moving, a safety video started playing. It reminded me to buckle my seatbelt and said that I shouldn’t touch the steering wheel or the pedals.

Some people I know swear that they’ll never get in one of these cars because no one is behind the wheel. I didn’t find it that strange, in part because I was traveling along city streets at low speeds.

Still, I couldn’t help but take a video of the empty driver’s seat, especially as the car made a turn and the wheel rotated without anyone present.

At one point, the car stopped in the middle of an intersection.

As I tried to look ahead and see what was happening, I noticed that the screen in the front of the car laid out the situation for me: Someone was crossing the street one vehicle ahead, and the car I was in had noticed and stopped.

The screen between the front seats also allowed me to call support if there was an issue.

Fortunately, my destination was on a less-busy street than the one where I hailed the car, so it was able to pull up directly in front of my destination.

As I got out, the Waymo app prompted me to leave a review and offered walking directions to my destination (which I didn’t need, in this case).

I felt safe riding in Waymo’s vehicle, and with the company’s expansion to other cities, I would try one again.

But I probably won’t pay a premium to ride in a Waymo again. If Uber and Lyft are cheaper, I’d likely take a ride with one of those services.

Do you have a story to share about self-driving cars, the gig economy, or a related topic? Reach out to this reporter at abitter@businessinsider.com.