Via Transportation Inc., the public transit software maker that went public last Friday, will partner with Waymo to laun
ch autonomous shared rides in Arizona this fall.
The program will start in Chandler, whose existing Flex service lets t
he public book cheap, shared shuttle rides via an app. It will offer some users the option to bo
ok a driverless ride with the Waymo app during periods of high dema
nd, a Via spokesperson said.
Public partnerships is an important new area of expansion for self-driving companies as they work to add th
e services in new cities. Last year, Waymo started a public-transit credit pr
ogram in San Francisco. Waymo, Alphabet Inc.’s self-driving unit, currently o
ffers ride hailing in five US markets and provides hundreds of thousa
nds of paid autonomous trips each week via its o
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wn app and through partners including Uber Technologies Inc. and soon
In Chandler, the addition of Waymo rides will help expand the cap
acity of its Flex public “microtransit” service, for which Via has implemented dem
and-matching and routing technology since it launched the partn
ership in 2022. Its software also allows the city government to moni
tor service performance, and meet federal funding, compliance and accessibility reporting requirements.
Users will have access to the driverless rides during the same o
perating hours and prices under the city’s Flex program, which charges $2 per ride.
Chandler was the fi
rst city where Waymo offered its driverless ride-hailing service in 20
0. By making the vehicles available for the city’s transit program, Waymo could also ensure its cars are better utiliz
ed while being accessible to users at a lower price point.