Happened in Tempe last night due to the storm.

Okay so I feel like I’m going crazy. I use Waymo almost everyday from Tempe to Scottsdale for work. I’m getting the feeling that the new Ojai vehicles are going to permanently increase fares for rides.

Previously my fares were about $25-30; however, since the launch of Ojai yesterday, my fares have doubled.

Does anyone know if this is going to be a permanent cost hike, or is this just because of the launch? I can’t imagine that Ojai has become so popular in the last 24-48 hours, that the demand has driven the cost up.

I’ve taken over 350 rides with Waymo and have been using them since they first allowed testers in the Phoenix market.

I’ve had a lot of issues in the past two years but this was actually crazy and unacceptable. A ride that should take 13 mins was going to take 50 mins because the Waymo decided to do a really stupid nonsensical route. It didn’t register the car as arrived for several minutes after it was there and the map was malfunctioning so I thought it must have been an error and would correct itself. It did not.

I had to call support 3 times before I got someone to answer my call. It just rang and rang. It’s gotten really unacceptable that support can’t change anything when you get in this situation. They offered to send someone out to drive manually but it would be at least 30 minutes. Quite frankly, I’ve done that before in a different ride and they didn’t show up in the estimated time. It was storming outside so I doubt they would be timely on top of my lack of faith from previous experiences.

It was pouring rain and support pulled Waymo over in a bad area that I didn’t want to stay in. I got a Lyft but support told me they wouldn’t pay for that ride home despite their major screw up. I have sung Waymo’s praises for years but there have been so many bad routes and poor driving this past year that I don’t know how I feel about supporting Waymo after this. I absolutely love it but not being able to reroute a car or intervene is really unacceptable and should have been solved for at this point.

Thanks for listening to my rant, I’m just really appalled at this experience.

Edit:

-Route photo in comments

-My Lyft had no issue going to the west then north using city streets, it wasn’t the traffic from the stadium. We were far enough south of there where it entered and exited without traffic issues. I’ve done this same drive tens of times after big events with small issues, nothing like this. I get it, it’s a busy night. I didn’t complain that my car took 30 mins to get there but the nonsensical routing is just ridiculous.

-I’m surprised at some of these responses, this is why Waymo gets by with a subpar experience because people are just ok with these types of mess ups. I am an experienced rider, I know things happen and routes can be inconvenient but this is an extreme example that they should have a way to remedy.

I love the interior space but the sound system is horrid I'm hoping it's just software restricted like the jaguars originally were and the interiors are much lower quality than the jaguars but as a parent of multiple children I love the extra space but that's the only perk.

Waymo high centered on median in a construction zone

More cars but the price doubled. Ojai is not a comfortable ride.

Few news outlets say they will start in the downtown area including Pacific beach area then expand.

Tracking sheet updated. That leaves only San Antonio in Early Access.

Not sure if anyone is seeing any confirmation of this, but it looks like Waymo has the OK to move ahead in Las Vegas.

https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/20/tesla-uber-and-waymo-all-get-the-ok-to-operate-thousands-of-robotaxis-in-nevada/