A driverless robotaxi from Waymo is parked on a street in San Francisco on May 16, 2024. Waymo vehicles are all-electric Jaguar I-PACEs outfitted with radar, lidar, sensors, and internal and external cameras. (Jim Wilson/The New York Times).

I hailed a Waymo for a 27-minute ride from San Fran's Mission Bay to North Beach. The quiet and peaceful interlude was a peek into the future.
A driverless robotaxi from Waymo is parked on a street in San Francisco on May 16, 2024. Waymo vehicles are all-electric Jaguar I-PACEs outfitted with radar, lidar, sensors, and internal and external cameras. (Jim Wilson/The New York Times).