For about 20 minutes Wednesday morning, I ceded control of my life to the absence of a person. Which is to say, I rode in my first Waymo.
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I was among the first people in Denver — aside from the company’s employees — invited to climb into one of Waymo’s cornflower-blue autonomous vans for a jaunt from Alamo Placita Park to loop around Washington Park and back.
The general public will soon be able to hail driverless Waymos through an app on their phone, although two representatives of the California-based company declined to say exactly when the driverless ride-hailing service will officially launch in Denver.
But on Wednesday, Chris Bonelli, Waymo’s product communications manager, summoned one of the all-electric, custom robotaxis to the flowering neighborhood park not far from Cherry Creek to demonstrate the technology to the press.
“We are doing our final validation of the service quality, safety metrics and other operational preparedness now, and look forward to welcoming public riders soon,” Bonelli said.
The company has been testing the vehicles on Denver streets since last year. State lawmakers approved the use of autonomous vehicles on Colorado roads in 2017 as long as they follow traffic rules. Local governments in Colorado are also barred from prohibiting autonomous vehicles.
Waymos, which originated in 2009 as a Google self-driving car project, are outfitted with all kinds of technological marvels: artificial intelligence, high-resolution cameras, advanced imaging radar and high-tech lasers to allow for rapid 3D mapping.
For a fun first impression, riders can customize their Waymo to display their initials on an LED screen atop the car, Bonelli said. Visually impaired riders can request a specific jingle play when the van pulls up so they know they’re getting into the right vehicle. Doors are outfitted with braille and service animals are welcome.
The sixth-generation minivan rolling out in Denver was built with snowy weather in mind, Bonelli said. The vehicle lacks cavities where ice and snow could get trapped, he said.
It was hard to imagine snow on the hot and sunny Wednesday morning, but Bonelli pointed out teeny windshield wipers with exterior sensors to wipe away anything that could block the view of critical equipment. Heaters on the outside of the vehicle melt away snowflakes. While it’s front-wheel drive, Bonelli said the van has “very good” traction control due to its hefty weight and an ability to react quickly and precisely in the event of sliding on icy roads.
Waymo operates a commercial fleet of more than 3,500 vehicles across 11 cities — Atlanta; Austin, Texas; Dallas; Houston; Los Angeles; Miami; Nashville, Tennessee; Orlando, Florida; Phoenix; San Antonio; and the San Francisco Bay Area — and is laying the groundwork to launch in at least 20 more cities across the globe.
The company representatives said there are “dozens” of Waymo vehicles zipping around Denver right now, but would not specify how many. As the user base grows, Bonelli said Waymo will scale up the number of vehicles until there are “hundreds” serving the city.
Prices will compare to other ride-hailing services, Bonelli said, and could change based on demand.
On the road
With the push of a button, the van’s doors parted like an elevator.
I took too long asking Bonelli questions before closing the van’s doors, prompting the disembodied voice of a real human to boom into the vehicle and ask whether we were OK.
Bonelli, who said this was a safety check-in, assured the voice we were doing a ride demonstration and provided his email address as clearance. I buckled my seatbelt, pushed a button in the car telling it to get moving and off we went.
Users can control features — temperature, lighting, seat configuration and music — both in the app and the vehicle, through multiple touchscreens inside the van. Passengers can connect to their Spotify accounts or find tunes through a selection of music platforms.
The vehicles were recently connected to the Gemini AI platform, Bonelli said. Passengers thirsty for knowledge could prompt the robot du jour to recite when Colorado became a state — Aug. 1, 1876 — or riders thirsty for caffeine could ask for a list of nearby coffee shops. The van answered those questions, although it did take a couple of tries to produce results, as Bonelli reminded me it’s still in beta testing.
Our first test of operations came quickly at Third Avenue and Corona Street, where construction work, cones and a man holding a “stop” and “slow” sign filled the intersection. The van navigated it with ease as Bonelli explained the driving technology contains “gesture-detection” to follow the instructions of people outside. The van can identify and follow street signs telling the car to stop or slow, he said.
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Passengers watch their route unfold on GPS-like animated screens in front of them that offer insight into how the vehicle sees the world. For example, the screen showed the dimensions of vehicles around the van, and whether there were obstructions in the road that it detected.
For other drivers on Denver’s streets, the distinct Waymo van proved to be a distraction.
People in surrounding cars gawked, waved and, in one instance, rolled down their windows to shout something that went unheard, as Bonelli explained that the van had internal cameras that were always on but not always being watched.
The cameras were there to make sure there was no funny business, Bonelli said, such as more than four passengers in a car.
Getting stuck
Denverites have posted photos on social media showing Waymos that have gotten stuck, particularly along East Colfax Avenue, where BRT construction makes for confusing commuting even for corporeal drivers.
If a Waymo gets stuck, Bonelli said the vehicle is never remotely controlled. Instead, remote employees could provide the car with more information to help the technology decide how to proceed. For example, a remote roadside assistance employee could see where the Waymo got stuck and tell it that the right lane is open. In an emergency situation, an in-the-flesh roadside assistance team is also available, Bonelli said.
Waymos have been involved in hundreds of crashes in other cities. But according to the company, the vehicles have been in 16 times fewer serious-injury crashes, 5.6 times fewer crashes with airbag deployment and 14 times fewer crashes with injuries to pedestrians compared to human drivers across 220 million rider-only miles.
Waymo has been creating high-definition maps of Denver since September of last year with regular drivers behind the wheels of the vehicles, teaching the cars the law of the land. In Denver, that meant figuring out one-way streets and hills, Bonelli said.
Earlier this summer, the company began fully autonomous testing. Now, only Waymo employees are allowed in the driverless cars, but those eager to commute sans driver can pull up the app to get on a waiting list to be among the first public users.
Wednesday’s ride went smoothly, or as smoothly as anyone’s first time sitting in the back seat of a vehicle watching a steering wheel toggle itself back and forth.
I wondered how long it would take for a news report on a journalist’s first time in a driverless vehicle to feel silly and outdated, like reading about someone describing using the internet for the first time.
In 2026, the debate of how much of yourself to surrender to technology abounds. We do not yet have flying cars, but we have artificial intelligence that can write essays and emails and computer programs — and soon, drive us around Denver (within a 50-mile radius for the time being).
After the Gemini AI inside the Waymo listed several local coffee shops to tickle riders’ fancies, Bonelli thanked the robot for its service.
“I always say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ to AI,” Bonelli said. “We have to prepare for our potential future. That’s why every time I leave a Waymo, I say ‘thank you’ and give it a little pat.”
On my way out of the van — which delivered me back to Alamo Placita Park wholly intact, if not a little dazed — I patted my Waymo and whispered “thank you.”
I was assured the internal microphone built into the cabin picked it up just fine.
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