OK, before anyone assumes I am simply a technocrat espousing the virtues of automation at the expense of human connection, just hear me out on this one. Waymo’s imminent arrival in Seattle is a good thing, and frankly, I couldn’t be happier.

The company announced it’s beginning driverless testing in Seattle this week, following earlier trials in Bellevue back in 2022. There’s no official launch date yet, but the groundwork is being laid for a wider rollout.

To start, let’s level-set here on the kind of rideshare or taxi rider I am: I am a prolific talker. That’s right, if the Uber driver wants to ask me how my day is going, I’ll give them concise summaries of my last four meetings and my imminent dinner plans. So, I am not, by any means, anti-social. But on several recent business trips to Santa Monica and San Francisco, I had the unexpected pleasure of experiencing what I can only describe as pure “driverless bliss” in a Waymo.

Let me explain why.

Reason One: No Bad Driving, Ever Again

To be clear, most taxi and Uber drivers I’ve had the pleasure of riding with have been great, but I have experienced a ride or two that will surely take a few years off my life. We’ve all been there—trapped on I-5 behind the seat of someone who believes braking should coincide with every body tick… or white-knuckling it down Rainier Avenue while the driver is on the phone with his wife debating when the mother-in-law will leave. Waymo’s arrival means an end to this chaos. No more swearing out the window, no more drivers signaling right while turning left. The machines won’t forget to yield, won’t try to text and drive, and won’t suddenly slam on the brakes to admire some fetching co-ed. Imagine a commute utterly free of creative interpretation. Beautiful, orderly, quiet. Think Jetsons, not Skynet.

Reason Two: Total Privacy

Now, I know what you’re thinking: “Wait, a car filled with sensors, cameras, and microphones is supposed to give me privacy?” And yet, counterintuitively, it does. Like I said, I am a social guy, but I also have challenges finding enough downtime to leave my mind free to wander, review, or dream. Consider the bliss of stepping into a vehicle where no life stories need exchanging, however politely, no Lyft driver is cheerfully offering unsolicited relationship advice, and no cabbie is debating whether the Mariners will make the playoffs. With Waymo, you are gloriously alone. Just you, your thoughts, and maybe your favorite podcast (I am partial to Seattle magazine’s own podcast). Waymo gives us a neutral zone for Seattle Freeze, a third space: no awkward silence with a human driver, no forced small talk. Just a perfect blank canvas where we can, ahem, rehearse Karaoke go-to numbers at full volume.

Reason Three: Royal Treatment

Now here’s my favorite part. When Waymo picks you up, it announces your name out loud like you’re royalty arriving at the Met Gala. “Hello Jonathan! Your car is here!” There’s no confusion, no asking, “Hey I’m Jonathan, are you Derek?” And for a brief soothesome moment, my current rumination or phone call is left uninterrupted. This feature alone is worth celebrating. If you really think about it, years of enduring apps that make us prove we are not robots have led us here: a robot that recognizes us immediately like a celebrity. Now that’s what progress feels like!

So yes, Seattle, let’s rejoice. Waymo isn’t just another rideshare option, it’s a lifestyle upgrade and a reprieve from bad driving habits, a privacy cocoon, and, frankly, a chance to feel like the future has arrived in the good way that we all secretly wished that it would. Now, if only Waymo could also fix other Seattle drivers’ “you go, no, you go” tendencies at four-way stops, then we’d really be talking.