After deploying to over a dozen other cities throughout the U.S., Waymo robotaxi service is now open to anyone in the Mile High City.

Here are answers to key questions about Denver’s new ride-hailing service.

What is Waymo?

Waymo robotaxis are autonomous driving vehicles, or self-driving cars, that operate as a ride-hailing service similar to Uber and Lyft.

The company’s fleet consists of fully electric SUVs, each outfitted with a litany of cameras and sensors to comprehend and predict the real-time environment around each vehicle.

That information is compared with a back-end 3D map of Waymo’s service area, which serves as the baseline for the technology’s operational software.

Based on the comparison between institutional knowledge and real-time data, the onboard computer in each vehicle uses artificial intelligence to predict the movements of other road users and, accordingly, adjust the robotaxi’s speed and direction, ideally in the same manner a human driver would.

Who owns Waymo?

Google began developing self-driving technology in 2009, and Waymo was spun off into its own company under Alphabet — Google’s parent corporation — in 2016.

While Waymo first began testing the technology using Toyota Priuses, the company has since moved to Jaguars and, in Denver’s case, modified SUVs equipped for winter weather dubbed the “Ojai.”

How can I ride Waymo in Denver?

Just like other ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft, Waymo has an app that riders will be able to request rides on.

Upon arrival, the vehicle will sense the Bluetooth signal coming from the rider’s phone and pull up on the side of the road closest to it. The doors open with the touch of a button and close automatically.

Once the rider is inside, all they will need to do is tap a button on the car’s interior to begin the ride. The autonomous vehicle will do everything else from there.

Is Waymo cheaper than Uber and Lyft in Denver?

A Waymo spokesperson told 9NEWS that the price of riding one of the vehicles will be “comparable” but not “competitive” with other ride-hailing services when they officially launch to the public.

Like other companies, Waymo will use dynamic pricing, which fluctuates with demand, when calculating the rate for each ride.

Where in Denver can I take a Waymo?

Waymo will initially operate in a 60-square-mile area, spanning from Washington Park to just south of Thornton, and from Sloan’s Lake to Central Park.

After the initial launch, the company will expand further into the metro area and the airport, officials confirmed.

Will Waymo go to Denver International Airport?

Waymo will not initially service Denver International Airport, but the company has plans to add service there in future expansions.

The airport, one of the busiest in the world, has some of the greatest demand for ride-hailing services in the Denver area.

How many Waymo robotaxis will there be in Denver?

While Waymo officials have not confirmed an exact number of its Denver fleet, they said the initial rollout will feature “dozens” of cars.

What other cities have Waymo?

After initially launching to the public in Phoenix in 2020, Waymo has since expanded its operations to Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, Orlando, San Antonio and the San Francisco Bay Area.

The Denver deployment is part of the company’s next wave of operational expansion, which includes Baltimore, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Detroit, Las Vegas, London, Minneapolis, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Portland, Sacramento, San Diego, Seattle, St. Louis, Tampa, Tokyo and Washington, D.C.

Are Waymo’s robotaxis safe?

As part of a commitment to transparency, Waymo publishes online data from every single crash in which one of its vehicles has ever been involved.

Not only does that data stretch as far back as 2019 — months before the service became available to all members of the public — but as of March, Waymos have been involved in only three crashes resulting in serious injury after more than 500 million total miles driven.

Of those three crashes — all of which Waymo was deemed not at fault for — two resulted in a human fatality.

Can Waymo drive in snow?

Denver is one of the first cities where Waymo has deployed that has consistent winter weather.

Waymo’s Ojai vehicles are designed to navigate snowier conditions, with automated heaters on their sensors to keep them clean during periods of high precipitation. Additionally, the onboard computer can distinguish between different types of precipitation, such as snow, slush and ice.

While the vehicles can drive in snow, Waymo will initially have thresholds on when it will permit them to do so — those limitations will expand as the technology becomes more developed.

What happens when Waymo encounters road closures?

In addition to the six radar sensors and four lidar sensors, which use infrared laser pulses to map the real-time surroundings of each vehicle, Waymo robotaxis have 13 exterior cameras that give them 360-degree visibility up to 300 yards away.

The combined data feeds from the sensors and cameras are fed into each vehicle’s “brain,” which can use artificial intelligence to determine and interpret the surrounding environment in real time.

Part of that interpretation includes identifying active construction and reading temporary road signage. When The Denver Gazette received an early-access Waymo ride this month, the vehicle appropriately slowed down as it passed a construction worker holding a “slow” sign in a roadwork zone.

When is Waymo coming to Denver?

After months of testing without confirming an exact launch date, Waymo announced Tuesday that its robotaxi ride-hailing service is now open to the Denver public. The company also launched service in San Diego and Tampa, raising the number of cities it operates in to 14.

The testing process has included the vehicles creating a 3D map of Denver’s streets before operating with drivers behind the wheel and then fully autonomous driving, a spokesperson told 9NEWS.

Denver Gazette reporter Bernadette Berdychowski and news partner 9NEWS contributed to this story.