Last week, like many holiday travelers, I was stuck in my efforts to return home.

My family lives in San Francisco, and I was there with them. This was where we decided to meet for the New Year, so we could enjoy college football. Fiesta Bowl, which pits Notre Dame against Oklahoma State’s ex-squad, my brother.

My flight back was to depart Monday morning. However, severe winter storms in some parts of the country prevented me from flying home. airline staffing shortagesThree delays were experienced due to Covid Omicron’s fast-growing variant.

Instead of just mingling around at the airport I made a decision to get some work done and have some good times doing it.

Waymo currently operates its self-driving ride-hailing services in Phoenix. Waymo One. The Alphabet beat reporter, I thought — what better time to give it a shot? I had no staff, camera crew or public relations people. My phone, my minivan and I are all that is needed.

Last timeOne year ago, Waymo One began offering rides to selected riders. I was the first person to ride in a Waymo. The company had a Phoenix office, so I went to it and rode in the self-driving vehicle. At that time, the car could not be operated without a driver.

Waymo’s fundraising efforts have continued since. $5.5 billion in fundingFrom investors such as Silver Lake, Andreessen Horowitz, and T. Rowe Price. It also launchedWaymo Via announced today that it is now a local delivery service. testingSelf-driving cars in San Francisco New York.

According to the company, its vehicles have driven over 20 billion miles via simulation and more than 20 million on public roads.

Waymo is limited to a small portion of Phoenix. This was obvious to me because I had previously tried to book a car through Waymo, and the app said I was out of its coverage area. It stated that it was. websiteWaymo One has a presence in suburban areas such as Chandler, Tempe Mesa and Gilbert.

An account was already created by me from a previous unsuccessful attempt. My Gmail password and address were required to register. Next I needed to add my credit card information.

After that, I used the map to summon a vehicle. I had tried this several days ago, but a message appeared saying, “Autonomous specialist are temporarily accompanying rides. This means someone will take the driver’s chair.” Before proceeding, I clicked “OK”. It was somewhat surprising, as John Krafcik (the former CEO of the company) had stated in Oct 2020 that he would be leaving in a blog postWaymo will be opening its completely driverless Phoenix-based service on April 12.

CNBC received an email from Julianne McGoldrick, Waymo spokesperson. She stated that people sit behind the wheel in “inclement weather.” But it had not rained when I received my notification.

Everything else was easy, much like signing up to Lyft. Uber.

The Monday before my Waymo actual trip began, I made a fifteen-minute video. LyftRide from my hotel to the Raintree Ranch Center near Chandler so that I was able to buy a car. A cup of coffee was my first stop at the shopping mall. StarbucksYou have now opened the Waymo One application.

My desired location was a Trader Joe’s located several miles from my home, near the border of the service area. I was kept informed by the app about its progress and estimated when a car might be available. A small picture of the car was displayed, it being a Chrysler minivan.

The partition said, “Please remain in the back.” Do not touch the steering wheel. It made me wonder if Waymo was a victim of attempted hijacking. This is a risk that I had not considered. They were holding hand sanitizers. Clorox wipes. I found an N95 mask in the front seat pocket that had the exact same aqua color as the Waymo logo.

The screen asked me to install the Google Assistant app. I refused to do so. It would have been easier to use a Bluetooth or USB plug in.

This ride took just 14 minutes and covered five miles over some streets and highways. The cost was $10.77, or a little less than $1 a minute.

The journey was mostly smooth and comfortable, so I did not spill my coffee. There was one problem towards the end.

As the car was nearing Trader Joe’s it stopped abruptly and slammed the brakes for an apparently pedestrian. I almost got whiplash from the car, and was grateful to have a working seatbelt. It was quite surprising that the car could only go seven miles per hour while parked in a lot.

McGoldrick of Waymo wrote, “It’s certainly not the experience that we strive for” but added, “Our staff is looking into the event, and it will be used to improve.” 

After gasping — and letting out an audible “Jesus!” (see video below) — I settled back in until the car let me off in front of the Trader Joe’s. Another fire lane was next to the drop-off area.

The recorded voice said, “We have arrived.” Please check the surroundings and close all doors immediately after exiting.

McGoldrick did not comment on the reason the car was parked in clear fire areas, but said that the team was looking into the matter.

Although I was in Phoenix for a week, I only saw a handful of Waymos. This was quite a contrast to the 2019 visit and current San Francisco where you’ll see many test cars in one day. According to the company, there are 300-400 vehicles available in Phoenix. This includes Chrysler Pacifica vans as well as Jaguars. I-PaceElectric SUVs

The overall experience was more comfortable than any previous ride with a safety car driver in 2019. It felt a bit too cautious. The car went at a slower speed than traffic, and it waited almost for an eternity before turning unprotected.

The transition felt effortless this time. Instead of slowing down to make a turn, the car quickly moved up and then accelerated just at the right moment. It didn’t attract the same stares as it did two years ago. This is likely due to the fact that residents have grown accustomed to them being on the roads.

It took a mental shift to trust a totally driverless car as my vehicle with my daily life. Despite being a close observer of the company and having seen it work several times, watching the feet pedals moving up and down as the wheel turned left or right at will was scary. 

Waymo may face the greatest challenge in overcoming this hurdle. Instagram was my platform for sharing a 10-second clip of the ride. It allowed the viewers to view the pedals and the steering wheel in action. Many direct messages came in, consisting mainly of “WTF” or “How did it go?”

To get the opinions of several residents in Phoenix, I spoke with them. Many were not aware that they could access the service via an app. Other people claimed they had heard of Waymo One and were reluctant to use it. Many agreed that eventually autonomous cars will be commonplace.

Waymo has been around for 13 years. Self-driving vehicles have been able to function on streets across a portion of the United States for so long. While even getting that far is a mighty impressive technological feat, ubiquity — if it ever comes — feels like it’s still a long way off.

WATCH: Alphabet’s Waymo completes $2.5 billion fundraising round