(Bloomberg) -- Alphabet Inc.'s Waymo is launching a new account type that lets teenagers hail a robotaxi and ride alone, expanding its rider base while continuing to test its service in more US cities.
Teens from 14 to 17 can have a user profile paired to a parent's account starting on Tuesday, the company said in a statement. The program will initially be available where Waymo's vehicles operate in the Metro Phoenix area. The company intends to expand teen service to other cities.
Waymo said it will have specially trained support agents available to assist teens during rides and will loop in parents during trips if needed. Parents can also track the real-time status of a trip if the teen rider opted to share it. That's a different approach compared to Uber Technologies Inc., which allows parents to be automatically notified when teens hail a ride and check trip progress at any time.
The new program marks another expansion of Waymo's ride-hailing service. The company's more than 1,500 driverless vehicles now complete more than 250,000 paid passenger trips per week -- up five-fold from a year ago. Waymo has announced plans to launch its robotaxi service in Miami and Washington next year, and is gathering data and conducting road tests in several markets, including New York City. The unit is part of Alphabet's "other bets" division, a collection of futuristic businesses that generated $450 million in first-quarter revenue.
Adapting its service to a broader demographic would help Waymo better compete against Uber, which launched its teen offering in 2023 and has described it as a "runaway hit" with US users. Teen trips jumped more than 50% in the fourth quarter of last year from the prior period, Uber said in February, and are now available in 50 countries globally.
The two companies have teamed up in Austin and Atlanta where Waymo rides are offered exclusively through the Uber app. But teens with an Uber account won't be eligible for the Waymo teen program in those two markets just yet. "We may consider enabling access for teens through our network partners in the future," a Waymo spokesperson said.
The state of California, where Waymo currently operates paid rides through its own app in San Francisco and Los Angeles, does not currently allow unaccompanied minors in autonomous cars. The company "may seek to add" teen accounts in the state as "rules evolve," a spokesperson said. Uber discontinued its teen rides program in the state after the California Public Utilities Commission in December began mandating that all drivers who transport unaccompanied minors be fingerprinted.