There’s no shortage of companies looking to get you where you need to be and that is if you just don’t want to walk out into the street and flag down a conventional taxi. There are ride-hailing and ride-sharing apps and companies like Waymo with robot or self-driving taxi services. In a bid to set itself apart from the competition early on, Waymo is focusing on providing additional amenities to its customers.
Reuters reports that Waymo is testing free Wi-Fi and music streaming for riders in the greater Phoenix area. The music streaming is handled by Google Play Music and it’s ad-free. It’s possible for users to just listen to preselected playlists or stream their own playlists by just linking their Waymo and Google Play Music accounts.
The report adds that the free Wi-Fi service has only been offered to a small subset of riders that are not allowed to share their experience of Waymo’s robot taxis publically just yet. Waymo basically wants to give riders the option to work on their notebook or tablet without having to worry about data access. This feature will become very useful once it starts offering longer distance trips.
Other minor amenities include keeping the air conditioning in the vehicles at 72 degrees to keep riders cool during the Arizona summer. That’s in addition to charging cables for riders’ devices and even a child car seat so that families can get around using Waymo as well.
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