LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Las Vegas has a new way to get around.
Waymo launched its driverless taxi service Monday, covering 24 miles of the metro area and giving residents and visitors another option for getting from point A to point B.
WATCH | Geneva Zoltek talked with those who are on board with autonomous vehicles and others who are hesitant:
But not everyone is convinced they'll use it.
"I wouldn't. Personally, I wouldn't," said Priscilla Perez, who was visiting Las Vegas from Los Angeles. "You never know. You need somebody behind the wheel just in case. I think it's fine for the folks without cars. Just personally, I wouldn't."
The service currently requires an invite code for early access.
Waymo is joining Zoox, another company offering driverless taxis in Las Vegas. Zoox vehicles are available for public use, but only from certain pickup points.
The robotaxi race is in full swing.
Waymo is owned by Alphabet, Google's parent company. Zoox is owned by Amazon. Both companies have raised billions of dollars.
Driverless Teslas are not yet available to hail in Nevada but have launched in Texas and Florida.
According to Waymo, a study of 220 million fully autonomous miles found 94% fewer serious or fatal injury crashes compared to human-driver benchmarks.
"It's statistically safer in one of those, rather than a regular Uber or something like that," said Chris L., who is visiting Las Vegas.
Companies like Waymo and Zoox are betting Las Vegas riders are ready for the technology. The real test will be whether riders keep choosing a driverless car once the novelty wears off.
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