Los Angeles Residents Earn $20 for Every Waymo Robotaxi Door Closed
In a peculiar twist on the future of urban mobility, residents of Los Angeles are finding an unexpected, albeit small, source of income by assisting the city's burgeoning fleet of Waymo robotaxis. The autonomous vehicle company is reportedly offering a payment of $20 to individuals who help close doors left ajar by passengers, a simple act aimed at preventing these self-driving cars from obstructing traffic.
When Humans Become Waymo's Unofficial Support Crew
The situation came to light through anecdotal evidence, such as the experience of Los Angeles resident Don Adkins. While strolling one evening, he distinctly heard a synthesized voice emanating from a nearby Waymo vehicle: "Please close the rear right door, thank you." Initially, Adkins, whose vantage point suggested the door was already shut, considered ignoring the robotic plea. However, the persistent honking of a car stuck behind the Waymo prompted him to intervene, illustrating a common, albeit minor, hiccup in the otherwise advanced technology.
These autonomous vehicles, while transporting thousands of passengers weekly across Los Angeles, San Francisco, and other U.S. cities, can still encounter scenarios that disrupt the flow of traffic. Open doors, often left by inattentive passengers, represent a recurring issue that can bring the sophisticated AI to a standstill. Waymo's innovative, if slightly unconventional, solution involves enlisting the help of the local populace through the emergency towing app Honk.
The Rise of the 'Door-Closing Army'
The initiative has inadvertently fostered a new kind of gig work. Some Angelenos view this as a stable supplementary income stream, effectively becoming a human contingent to assist when the robots falter. Cesar Marenco has emerged as a dedicated "Waymo door-closer." He even captured one of his interventions using his Meta glasses, sharing the video on TikTok with a farewell to Waymo, which subsequently garnered half a million views. Marenco estimates he handles about three such tasks weekly through Honk, which can involve either closing errant doors or, in more serious cases, towing incapacitated Waymos back to their depots.
This human-assisted approach highlights the ongoing challenges in perfecting autonomous driving technology, especially in complex urban environments. It also brings to mind recent disruptions, such as the widespread traffic blockage in San Francisco caused by a dozen Waymo vehicles during a city-wide blackout, underscoring that even the most advanced AI is not immune to external factors and may require human intervention in unforeseen circumstances. Meanwhile, in a separate incident, frustration with Waymo vehicles led one individual to slash the tires of 17 autonomous cars, a stark reminder of the sometimes-contentious relationship between new technology and the public it serves.
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