Waymo eyes public launch of robotaxis in Denver at "some point later this year"

In just a matter of months, people in Denver will be able to take a ride on the city's newest rideshare service.

You might have heard about Waymo. It's already operating in some American cities like Los Angeles, Austin and Miami. There is no human driver. Instead it uses autonomous technology to help get customers around.

Like most rideshare services, Waymo app users will be able to request a ride, and a robotaxi will arrive.

Waymo invited CBS Colorado for a quick ride around the city Tuesday.

Many may equate Waymo cars with the white fleet originally seen around town. But, the vehicles that will officially operate in Denver are even more distinguishable.

"This is our all-new Ojai vehicle that is equipped with our sixth generation of the Waymo driver," said Chris Bonelli, a product communications manager at Waymo. "That is the latest and greatest of the hardware, the compute, and the powerful AI that makes the magic happen."

According to Waymo, their vehicles are 94% less likely to be in a serious injury collision or cause a fatality than a car with a driver behind the wheel.

"The Waymo driver, as you know, is never drowsy," said Bonelli. "It's never distracted. It's never drunk. Right?"

Their safety technology was put to the test when we passed someone riding a scooter in the road.

"You can see on the screen here an individual on a scooter," Bonelli pointed out on the screens inside the vehicle that provide a visual representation of what the car's technology is seeing. "We're going to give him a little extra space, change lanes and -- when available and safe -- get back in."

However, we've all seen videos of Waymo vehicles getting caught in construction situations, detours, or road closures. Bonelli explained how the company's remote operations team can step in to help.

"We can give it clues, suggestions, you know, information to help it make the best path ... and in those even rare circumstances where you know the vehicle just cannot get through, we have a roadside assistance team that we will deploy that will as swiftly as we're able assist the vehicle and help make sure that we're not impeding traffic," Bonelli said.

The company told CBS Colorado last year that the goal was to serve the public in early 2026, but it could still be several months before Denverites can use it.

"Can't share a specific date, but certainly at some point later this year, we're very excited to open our doors very widely, as you can see, to public riders. We're currently doing trips with employees, which is our final test, kind of last stage of preparations before we open to public riders"

For now, Denver residents have a unique rideshare service to continue to look forward to.