Google’s driverless car subsidiary Waymo has announced it will start taking fares in driverless vehicles from anyone with its app in the central area of Phoenix, Arizona.

The widening of its service comes after months of testing, with millions of miles driven. Previously, the company had only been operating journeys with no safety driver behind the wheel for participants in its “trusted tester” programme.

The website Techcrunch comments that the expansion in Phoenix is yet another sign of Waymo’s accelerated push toward commercialisation and comes after the company secured its driverless deployment permit from the California Department of Motor Vehicles, which allows it to charge for autonomous services like delivery in San Francisco.

The site adds that, more importantly, it’s a prerequisite to securing the California Public Utilities Commission’s own driverless deployment permit, which Waymo needs to operate a commercial robotaxi service with no human safety operator in the city.

(Picture – Waymo)