4 Reasons Robotaxis Will Replace Your Rideshare
San Francisco has become one of the first cities where robotaxis feel like part of everyday life. Waymo cars can be seen so much downtown that they’ve started to replace the image of the classic cab. For me, they’ve already become my go-to way of getting around. Still, it's crazy that what once felt like a tech demo is now a real option for city transportation.
As more AV services roll out to even more cities, the big question is how they’ll win riders beyond early adopters. From my time using them, four advantages stand out.
1. Privacy
One of the biggest advantages of robotaxis is the most obvious. There is no driver. That means no small talk, no bad vibes from the driver setting the tone of your ride, and no random smells or clutter in the car. It is just you and the car.
I've had too many rideshare trips with Black Ice car fresheners, drivers talking incessantly on calls for the entire ride, and "comfort" rides that end up being hot and chatty rather than cool and quiet as requested.
Yes, you know the company can monitor rides if needed, but hey, there is no one driving the car, so sensors are a given. Despite the cameras and the mics, the ride feels relatively private. You can take a call on speakerphone, play your own music, or sit there and enjoy the rare moments of quiet you can rarely find anywhere else. When you ride with a friend, you can talk without holding back. After years of ridesharing with a stranger, the absence of a driver feels like a reset.
2. Safety
The first time you get in a robotaxi, you can't help but feel a little uneasy. Cars that drive themselves seem scary. Every time I send a video of myself in a Waymo to my friends and family who don't yet have access, their messages are always something like "you are so brave" or "you're crazy". It doesn't help that my videos are often recorded while the car is driving itself down one of San Francisco's infamous steep hills. But once you've taken a couple of rides and the novelty wears off, the experience feels safe.
Robotaxis are programmed to prioritize caution. They don’t speed through yellows or weave between lanes. They follow the rules to the letter and don't take risks. This can make a ride a little slower, but it also makes it feel safer.
I was recently in an Uber where this exact topic of conversation came up with the driver. The Uber driver said he liked having the Waymo cars on the street because they are so predictable and therefore easier to be on the road with. But he also agreed with me that getting from point A to B in a Waymo can be much longer. Not only because it chooses the safest route but also because of how risk-averse the vehicles have to be. To prove that human drivers will still be the best choice if you are in a hurry, he dared to turn right in a four-way lane intersection when a car was just driving towards us not far away. "See a Waymo would never chance that," he gloated. While impressed and grateful that we made it, it made me appreciate my steady Waymo ride even more.
The safety advantage isn’t just about how the car drives. Many women I know in San Francisco have said they feel safer riding with Waymo than getting into a car with a stranger. Uber’s rollout of new women’s safety features underscores that this concern is real. Parents, too, are starting to trust AVs as well. Waymo has been piloting teen rides, giving parents a live view of the trip in the app. In these cases, safety isn’t a technical issue, but rather a matter of peace of mind for the rider.
3. Personalization
Waymo adds small but thoughtful touches that make each ride feel like it’s yours. Your initials appear on the car’s lidar dome. A voice greets you by name when you step inside. You can now set your music playlist in the app, so your ride begins with your own soundtrack.
It brings me back to the early days of Uber, when the service felt premium, like you had your own personal driver. Except with Waymo’s all-Jaguar fleet, you don't have your own driver; you have your own self-driving car.
These personal touches in Waymo are just a glimpse of where autonomous vehicles are headed in terms of personalizing the ride experience. Robotaxis are on track to become fully bespoke environments, tuned in real time to the people inside.
The same sensors that let these cars navigate can also be used to read passengers. Add temperature and biometric sensing, and the vehicle could respond to your mood, your habits, and even your health. Your playlist might change to calm you down after a stressful meeting. Cabin lighting could shift to energize you on a morning commute. The temperature of your seats could heat up to soothe sore muscles after leg day at the gym.
Recognition systems could identify who just got in and instantly load their preferred settings from seat position to favorite podcast or even preferred scent for cars that offer that enhancement. Group rides could become shared experiences where the environment adapts to the collective vibe.
The more you ride, the better it knows you. This will transform AVs from cars to responsive spaces that dynamically tailor experiences with every drive.
4. Better Use of Time
Without a driver, the car becomes more than a way to get somewhere. It turns into a space you can actually use. Zoox has shown a glimpse of this future with its inward-facing four-seat vehicles that are purpose-built for self-driving. Gone is the steering wheel, and staring at the back of a seat. Instead, the riders face each other, perfectly situated to have a conversation and connect with one another, face to face.
Instead of looking out the window or talking to people without looking at them, you can turn a ride into something truly social or even productive. Meet a friend and catch up over coffee on a ride. Bring a laptop and clear out your inbox in your own personal office on the go. Share the ride with colleagues and turn it into a rolling meeting. The cabin starts to feel less like a means to an end and more like a destination all on its own. That change is just as important as the technology that makes it possible.
Driverless cars are still in their early days. Scaling them to more cities will require both technical progress and regulatory support. When these hurdles are surpassed, adoption will come down to the user experience. Privacy, safety, personalization, and better use of time will all play a key role in convincing riders to not just give this new mode of transportation a try, but to keep coming back.
