My first-ever ride in a robo-taxi: JO KESSEL hails a driverless Jaguar cab in San Francisco… filming an experience that leaves her heart in her mouth. So would YOU get in one?

Travel writer Jo Kessel straps herself in next to an empty driver’s seat for the ride of her life – in a robot taxi. Her video of the San Francisco experience shows her hailing the cab via a mobile app (similar to Uber) and the Jaguar car arriving five minutes later… minus a driver! The video shows the robot taxi navigating roundabouts and intersections, dodging pedestrians, driving down steep hills – and how strange it is to say thank you at the end of the ride… to no one.

Self-driving cars were once science fiction, but now they are reality.

It took 15 years and more than 20 million miles of test drives to get there, but in August, Google-owned autonomous taxi company Waymo One was finally allowed to provide its service to the paying public in San Francisco. And despite being a terrible backseat driver – and not really a robot fan – I couldn’t wait to try it out and film the whole experience.

The video starts with clicking the ‘request button’ in the Waymo app. Nerves and excitement build as I am warned that the car is on its way and will arrive in five minutes. At first I see my ride approaching on the screen, but soon it’s visible on the horizon, drawing closer with a flashing light buzzing on the roof and rotating sensors next to the front and rear lights.

It looks like a spacecraft on wheels, but it’s actually an all-electric, custom white Jaguar I-Pace – one of 250 in Waymo’s San Francisco fleet.

The car stops in a safe place – and I have to open the doors with the app.

Before I know it, I’m sitting next to the empty driver’s seat, with my heart in my mouth and my seat belt on. The journey only begins once the passenger taps the ‘Start Ride’ button on the dashboard and it is with some trepidation that I do just that.

The car – or rather the dashboard – speaks as we drive away, explaining basic rules called ‘driving tips’. It says: ‘We do all the driving. Do not touch the steering wheel or pedals while driving.’

Jo’s video of the San Francisco experience shows her hailing the cab via a mobile app (similar to Uber) and the Jaguar car (above) arriving five minutes later… minus a driver of course

To start the ride, according to Jo’s video, the passenger must press the ‘start’ button on the dashboard

Jo is nervous when the taxi leaves

It is simultaneously exciting and nerve-wracking to be a passenger in an autonomous vehicle. Watching the steering wheel turn without anyone sitting behind it is extremely surreal, especially when the car turns left for the first time.

Shortly afterwards, the Waymo reaches an intersection without traffic lights. How will it cope? He hesitates a little and crawls forward once he’s convinced the coast is clear.

San Francisco is a notoriously hilly city and at times my journey seems like a roller coaster ride with lots of ups and downs and steep inclines. There are fears. Will the car brake? How hard will he brake? What if someone jaywalks?

It turns out that the car drives quite smoothly – smoother than most human drivers – and stops reliably at red lights.

And because Waymo cars are programmed not to exceed the speed limit (mine averages about 20 mph), it always feels stable and safe. As for the brakes, although the car has foot pedals, they are purely cosmetic and never move. However, they certainly work and are especially impressive on steep slopes. While starting on a human hill makes the car roll backwards a little, my Waymo car doesn’t, not even an ounce.

Jo writes: ‘It turns out that the car drives quite smoothly – smoother than most human drivers – and stops reliably at red lights.’

“Can it go downhill?” Jo asks on the video. ‘Yes, that is possible’ is the answer

A music montage toward the end of the film shows our route following another Waymo and a very cute dog. It also demonstrates the self-driving car’s capabilities as it drives around a roundabout and then changes lanes to avoid a double-parked car. However, it is the reaction of pedestrians that is the most funny. They turn, stare, and do a double take, as if the car is an A-list celebrity.

By the end of the ride I have become desensitized to the fact that I am in a robot car and wish I could do it all again.

So I do.

I book one a day later if I don’t want to walk home alone in the dark. Does that ride feel different from my daytime ride?

Actually yes!

Women can only feel vulnerable in a taxi with a male driver. It feels much safer to be in the self-driving Waymo, something I hadn’t thought about before driving.

“By the end of the ride I have become desensitized to the fact that I am in a robot car and wish I could do it all again,” Jo writes. “So I do.” Above you can see another Waymo car chasing Jo’s cab for a short time

“Women can only feel vulnerable in a taxi with a male driver,” Jo writes. “It feels much safer to be in the self-driving Waymo, something I hadn’t thought about before driving”

Even better is the fare: $24 (£19) for a 40-minute return journey. And at no extra cost, I can get off halfway and call another taxi when I’m ready to start the ride again. My overnight trip is cheaper: $10 (£8). And no tips are expected; you don’t even get a chance to tip. This already feels reasonably priced, but Waymo promises rates will drop as they scale.

It’s strange that I don’t have anyone to thank at the end of the trip – my ‘thank you’ to the car when getting out tends to fall on deaf ears.

But I would definitely like to ride Waymo again. Their driverless taxis are also available in Phoenix, Arizona, and will soon be coming to both Los Angeles and Austin, Texas. Fancy a futuristic car ride without hands? Best sign up now. It’s so popular that there is currently a six-month waiting list!

Register here to get on the waiting list – waymo.com/waitlist.

For more videos from Jo, visit her YouTube channel Go With Jo. www.youtube.com/@gowithjo1