Molly Fischer on Waymo, the Driverless Taxi Coming to a City Near You
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The New Yorker Radio Hour is a co-production of WNYC and the New Yorker. This is the New Yorker Radio Hour. I'm David Remnick. Hailing a taxi. Getting into a car with a total stranger, trusting that he or she is going to get you Where are you going?
Well, that's a quintessential big city experience. Used to be pretty rare outside of big cities. But ride chairs like Uber have made it familiar around the country. What about getting into a cab? With nobody in it.
The driver's seat is empty, the steering wheel is turning as though there was a ghost. I can't think of a more uncanny experience and I haven't been in one yet and I'm not sure I intend to. The company that's putting these driverless cabs on the road. is called Waymo. And as of now there are about four thousand nationwide.
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