LOS ANGELES — Waymo’s self-driving robotaxi service is taking a tour of Los Angeles to let people experience the technology. The company announced Wednesday that it will begin letting residents and visitors take trips in its Waymo One fully autonomous vehicles in LA neighborhoods as the Alphabet subsidiary prepares to roll out service in the city.

What You Need To Know

  • Waymo is launching a robotaxi tour of Los Angeles starting in October and running through next March

  • The tour will allow residents to sample its robotaxi service in self-driving vehicles without a human backup driver

  • Earlier this year, Waymo announced it would begin testing truly driverless cars in Los Angeles

  • The tour is a precursor to the company's launch of a paid robotaxi service in LA

The robotaxis will be available in one-week waves in various neighborhoods, starting with Santa Monica from Oct. 11 through Nov. 18. It will proceed to Century City Nov. 20 through Dec. 17, West Hollywood Dec. 17 through Jan. 7, Mid City Jan. 8-23, Koreatown Jan. 24 through Feb. 8 and downtown LA Feb. 9 through March 3.

According to a blog post from the company, interested passengers will have two ways to score tickets that allow them to ride in the service area for a week. They can attend an as-yet-unannounced pop-up where Waymo will hand out tickets to ride. They can also sign up for the waitlist online or through the Waymo One app.

All rides are free and available any time of day or night.

Earlier this year, Waymo announced it would start testing cars without a driver in Los Angeles. It posted a video on Twitter that showed an electric Jaguar I-PACE equipped with Waymo self-driving technology on its roof wheeling through downtown.

Waymo is one of four companies in the state of California that has a permit to deploy autonomous vehicles without a human safety driver behind the wheel to take over in case of emergencies. The General Motors subsidiary Cruise also has a permit and has been operating its service in San Francisco but has yet to expand to LA.

Since February, Waymo has been gradually ramping up tests of its Waymo One in the LA area, following months of tests with a human backup. Based in Mountain View, California, Waymo has been operating robotaxi services in the Bay Area in autonomous vehicles with backup safety drivers and a driverless ride-hail in Phoenix since October 2020.