Waymo is winning over riders while the fallout for human drivers stays fuzzy

Alphabet’s Waymo is taking a measurable share of ride-hailing in its most established markets, according to third-party data—yet the knock-on effects for human drivers may be harder to spot. Wharton professor Gad Allon said the impact likely won’t appear as sudden layoffs; because driver supply is flexible, early changes would show up in utilization (time online spent on paid trips), longer waits, fewer trips per hour, and possibly more unpaid repositioning. Yipit data estimated Waymo accounted for 15% of gross bookings in San Francisco and Los Angeles in June and 16% in Phoenix, with January figures at 16%, 17%, and 19%. Uber CFO Balaji Krishnamurthy referenced the same Yipit tracking, while Allon warned the labor shock could still be “serious.”