For the first time, Waymo self-driving cars are delivering Uber Eats orders
Just a few weeks after DoorDash announced plans to begin delivering some orders via drone, Uber Eats has announced a similar feature – although this one is a little more grounded.
Starting on Wednesday, Uber Eats customers in the Phoenix metro area, including Tempe, Mesa, and Chandler, could potentially have their order matched with a Waymo self-driving car and delivered with nobody behind the wheel.
This marks the seventh site where Uber Eats is testing autonomous deliveries, but the first one that uses Waymo vehicles. The company tested driverless delivery in Santa Monica in 2022 and in Japan in March 2023, among other locations.
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Not every Phoenix area restaurant on Uber Eats will have access to Waymo deliveries, Uber said. Right now, Waymo cars are only available to "select merchants," including local favorites like BoSa Donuts, Filiberto's, and Princes Pita.
Here's how the partnership works.
When placing an order at an eligible location from the Uber Eats app, you'll see a prompt that says "Autonomous vehicles may deliver your order." This isn't a guarantee, just a heads up that it could potentially happen. If you prefer, you can select human delivery at checkout. If an autonomous vehicle arrives, you'll get a notification from the app and you'll have to take your phone with you to unlock the vehicle and collect your food. This means you'll have to walk to the road or parking lot instead of having your food brought to your door. (There's no extra charge if you get a Waymo car instead of a human driver.)
Just like with the rider emissions tracker that Uber rolled out in March, he company says this partnership is meant to encourage customers to help reduce vehicle CO2 emissions. All Waymo cars are electric.
Uber and Waymo first partnered in 2023 to offer autonomous rides to customers in Phoenix. At that time, the two companies announced that Waymo was covering 180 square miles, the largest fully autonomous service area in the world. The pair also partnered back in 2022 to bring Waymo driverless technology to Uber Freight.