Waymo is rolling out amenities to entice riders to use its self-driving taxis, creating a potential route to profitability in a money-losing industry.
Eliminating drivers would slash Waymo's labor costs. Consistent, quality service might enable the company to charge higher fares, while internet, music and video streaming could generate extra fees or ad sales. Wall Street investment analysts have estimated Waymo's value at more than $100 billion, assuming in-car services contribute revenue.
"Whether you want to catch up on emails or jam out to some of your favorite tunes using our music integration, we encourage riders to make this space their own," spokeswoman Julianne McGoldrick said. The Wi-Fi, which has not been previously reported, is available to a subset of users who get to test features but are barred by Waymo from talking publicly about their experience. Two riders told Reuters they first noticed laminated fliers with Wi-Fi instructions in vans in April.
The city of Chandler, which has budgeted $30,000 over the next year for employees' Waymo fares, said its workers are not in the Wi-Fi test. Still, they stand to benefit from making full use of their phones during rides, something they are restricted from doing behind the wheels of city cars, economic development manager Micah Miranda said.
Passengers can link their Waymo and Google Play Music accounts to listen to playlists they create. Two Waymo users told Reuters they joined the Google service for this reason.
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