In Phoenix, there is a lot of airport drop-offs and pickup. According to the company, it is the first company to include an airport in its service area. The company used to only offer airport trips to its employees.
Expanding its service area to include Phoenix's Sky Harbor International Airport could be a potential moneymaking opportunity for the company. As the industry shrinks, tech stocks plummet, and economic forecasts look gloomier, the pressure is on for companies to start generating revenue.
The companies are under pressure to start making money.
The company has been operating its vehicles in several suburbs outside of Phoenix. Downtown Phoenix was included in the company's service area earlier this year.
The Early Rider program it ran in suburban Phoenix is a part of the Trusted tester program. Once approved, customers who join the wait list will get access to the company's early technology and new service areas.
Regular paying customers who aren't barred by non-disclosure agreements from sharing about their trips will eventually be allowed to use those vehicles and service areas. Some of those trips will take place in vehicles that are fully self-sufficient.
Airport trips can be very messy for human-operated vehicles, so it will be important for the company to perfect its Level 4 vehicles before they are put to use. As airport traffic increases in the wake of the covid epidemic, either Waymo will start making a lot of money or it will become the subject of embarrassing headlines if its vehicles get confused and cause traffic headaches.
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