Waymo, Alphabet’s robotaxi service, is steadily making its way to major cities across the country. Now, it is offering some of its most loyal riders a new membership program.
The program is called Waymo Premier. It is invite-only for now and is initially being offered to select riders in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Phoenix. The $29.99-a-month program gives members several perks, including priority pickups, 10% Waymo Cash back on every trip, early access to Waymo in new cities, and up to five free cancellations a month.
“As we scale and bring our fully autonomous ride-hailing service to more people across the globe, we continue to refine the Waymo experience and deliver more for our riders,” the company said in a blog post. “You spoke, and we listened to how we can offer an even more elevated experience for you, our top riders.”
Waymo says it plans to offer Premier to more riders in more cities in the future.
The new subscription plan comes as Waymo is quickly expanding its fleet and coverage area. Last month, Waymo said its service area would soon cover more than 1,400 square miles across 11 cities. The company bragged that its coverage area will eventually be larger than the entire state of Rhode Island, which is roughly 1,200 square miles. The company also has plans to expand internationally, starting with London and Tokyo.
It has also been preparing to scale up its robotaxi fleet. The company announced earlier this year that it plans to expand production at its Phoenix-area factory to tens of thousands of vehicles per year.
More recently, the company acquired the 5,500-acre proving ground in Arizona that Apple used to test prototypes for its canceled Project Titan self-driving car project.
That said, the new membership plan could help Waymo build a new recurring revenue stream, similar to its competitors. For example, Uber said its membership program, Uber One, which launched in 2021 after replacing the company’s separate ride and food delivery subscription programs, reached 50 million members in the first quarter of this year.
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said at the time that Uber One members, which costs $9.99 a month, drove half of the company’s gross bookings across rides and food delivery in the first quarter.
If Waymo’s membership program takes off, it could help boost the company as it expands. In the first quarter, Alphabet’s Other Bets segment, which includes Waymo, generated $411 million in revenue but recorded a $2.1 billion operating loss.
Still, Waymo seems ready to make itself known nationwide.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Waymo is planning to air its first national ad campaign on Friday during the FIFA World Cup match between the United States and Paraguay on Fox.
The campaign is focused primarily on a message about the safety of its self-driving platform.
“So, we built a driver that never blinks, never gets tired or angry, or has a few too many. Seeing far, thinking fast, and reacting quickly,” a voice over in the ad says. “Now the Waymo driver is safer than a human one.”
The ad goes on to claim that the Waymo Driver system is 10 times safer than a human driver in the cities where the company operates.
The commercial will reportedly be accompanied by digital, social media, and billboard ads in cities around the U.S., including places that do not yet permit its driverless cars on their streets. Surprisingly, its still unclear if or when Waymo will make it to New York City streets.
Waymo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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