Google's self-driving car business, Waymo, has launched its robotaxi service in the United States. <br />However,... since the project is still in its early days,... it won't be available to everyone.<br />Only a few hundred people who live in the suburbs of one of Arizona's biggest cities will be able to make use of the service... at least for now.<br />Kim Hyo-sun tells us more. <br />Waymo, an arm of Google parent company Alphabet launched a public self-driving car service in Arizona on Wednesday. <br />The service, dubbed Waymo One, is similar to Uber, the popular ride-sharing service. <br />Riders download an application and provide their payment information.<br />The company which began developing driver-less vehicles in 2009,... aims to provide the service to a few hundred customers who live within a 160 kilometer zone near the Phoenix suburbs. <br /><br />"I mean, the best thing for me was the first ride. Get in, sit down and watch the steering wheel turn on its own. Big grin on my face the entire time."<br /><br />The vehicle is not entirely driver-less,... as a human engineer will be behind the wheel,... but only to intervene in case of emergency. <br />While major challenges remain, including technical hurdles,... many believe such services will be a game changer.<br /><br />"There's no hindrance that I've noticed. They keep with the speed of traffic. They seem to know where they're going."<br /><br />For the past decade, Waymo has logged more than 16 million kilometers on public roads in 25 cities across the U.S.<br />Wall Street analysts expect Waymo's market value to jump from 50 billion to 175 billion U.S. dollars once the self-driving service is stabilized.<br />Kim Hyo-sun, Arirang News. <br />
