Waymo autonomous cars to offer DoorDash deliveries in Phoenix

Waymo partnering up with DoorDash for deliveries

The future of robotics continues to pick the Phoenix area as its proving grounds. FOX 10's Steve Nielsen has more on what Waymo and DoorDash are doing, together, in the Valley.

PHOENIX - The future of robotics continues to pick Phoenix as its proving grounds, as DoorDash and Waymo announce a partnership to offer driverless food deliveries.

What we know:

According to a statement released on Oct. 16, DoorDash customers "may be matched with a fully autonomous Waymo vehicle for their next delivery from a participating merchant across our 315 sq mile service area in Phoenix."

"Just opt into autonomous vehicle delivery when checking out, and you may be matched with Waymo to deliver your order. When Waymo arrives, open the trunk with your DoorDash app and grab your items," read a portion of Waymo's statement.

Officials with the self-driving vehicle operation say at first, they will deliver orders from DoorDash's convenience, grocery, and retail stores called "DashMart," and there are plans to "include more local Phoenix merchants and a wider variety of offerings over time."

Local perspective:

We spoke with both a DoorDash driver and a visitor to Phoenix about Waymo deliveries.

"That’s an interesting concept, but a driver-less car, I feel like you’re not gonna get the convenience of somebody bringing it into your building or bringing it to your door, so I would say that’s an inconvenience for me," said Shari White, who is visiting Phoenix from Houston along with her husband.

Neither Shari nor her husband had seen Waymos before. While such cars are common in the Valley, Waymo's website states the only Texas city that has the autonomous car service is Austin, and they are only available for those who request a ride via Uber.

"It is coming on us kind of quickly, and I think some of us are just kinda not stuck, but we’re just not ready to go that far," White said.

One DoorDash driver we spoke with says he hopes the service doesn't expand too fast.

"It’ll just be a world of robots, but, you know, if that’s the way they think the world will be, [it's] sad, but we’ll still find work," he said.

DoorDash officials, meanwhile, say the autonomous deliveries are great options for orders that are smaller, and many drivers pass on.

What's next:

Waymo is not the only firm launching autonomous deliveries.

On Sept. 30, DoorDash unveiled a delivery robot called 'Dot.'

"Reaching speeds of up to 20 mph, Dot is built for neighborhood trips to help local businesses meet growing consumer demand," read a portion of the statement. " We’re launching this program in the greater Phoenix metro area, marking the beginning of our commercial deployment and paving the way for future expansion into multiple new markets."