Alphabet’s (GOOGL) autonomous car unit Waymo has unveiled its Waymo One Trusted Tester program in San Francisco. The program will allow people to hail autonomous rides around the city in an all-electric Jaguar I-Pace that features the fifth generation Waymo Driver.
Waymo inviting the public for autonomous rides is part of an ongoing research trial that it hopes will transform ride-hailing. The Alphabet unit has been testing self-driving cars for 12 years in the city.
The company began the trials earlier in the year as part of a program that involved employees. Impressed by the outcome, the company is now opening the service to the public, including people with disabilities. (See Alphabet stock charts on TipRanks)
“Since October 2020, we’ve served tens of thousands of fully autonomous rides, and through our years of experience, have refined our incremental approach guided by our safety framework and rider feedback,” Waymo said in a blog post.
People can access the autonomous rides for their everyday chores anywhere within the city. All the rides will feature an autonomous specialist on board. Additionally, Trusted Testers will be able to share feedback about their rides, which the Alphabet unit intends to use to polish the self-driving technology.
Last month, Argus Research analyst Joseph Bonner reiterated a Buy rating on Alphabet and raised the price target to $3,100 from $2,800, implying 9.73% upside potential to current levels. The upgrade comes on the company delivering Q2 results that showed good momentum in advertising revenue. While current antitrust issues are a setback, the analyst does not expect them to play out anytime soon.
Consensus among analysts is a Strong Buy based on 30 Buys. The average Alphabet price target of $3,173.55 implies 12.33% upside potential to current levels.
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