Alphabet’s Waymo Robotaxi unit doubles its paid rides in three months

Alphabet’s Waymo said on Tuesday it had doubled its paid rides to 100,000 a week in just over three months as the autonomous transport firm expanded its service areas and allowed more people to drive its robotaxis.

Waymo’s expansion comes just a month after Alphabet said it plans a $5 billion multiyear investment in the company, even as autonomous vehicle technology continues to face widespread skepticism, tight regulatory scrutiny and federal investigations.

Waymo, which has about 700 vehicles in its fleet, is the only U.S. firm that operates unmanned robotaxies that collect fares. The company opened its service to everyone in San Francisco in June without joining a waiting list as it expanded operations in metro Phoenix. This month, Waymo expanded service to the San Francisco Peninsula and parts of Los Angeles.

Related: Safety probe into Waymo’s self-driving vehicles finds more incidents

“People still think of autonomous vehicles as the distant future, but for more and more people they are now an everyday reality,” chief product officer Saswat Panigrahi said in a statement, adding that Waymo has expanded “in deliberately’ and through ‘cost optimization’. “

This is critical as competition for Waymo is expected to intensify. Tesla CEO Elon Musk is expected to unveil the electric vehicle market leader’s delayed plans for its robotaxi product in October.

Others in the running include General Motors’ Cruise, which is finding its way back onto US roads with safety drivers after a major crash last year; Amazon’s Zoox, which is expanding testing for its vehicles built without steering wheels and pedals; and China-based WeRide, which is seeking a $5 billion valuation from its New York IPO and has won California approval to conduct passenger trials.

(Reporting by Abhirup Roy in San Francisco; Editing by Kim Coghill)