New Profession: Closing Taxi Doors, Earnings Reach Rp 400,000
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - Waymo’s driverless taxi platform is facing a new issue related to passenger habits. Their vehicle doors are often not closed properly because passengers rush out. This condition prevents the vehicle from continuing its journey.
To address this problem, Waymo has partnered with DoorDash. DoorDash is an on-demand platform similar to Grab and Gojek, offering food delivery and parcel services.
Waymo pays DoorDash workers in Atlanta US$11.25 or Rp 190,000 to close the doors of their robot taxis left open by passengers. DoorDash drivers in areas where robot taxi doors are not closed will receive notifications in their app.
In a statement to CNBC International, Waymo said this system will apply until the automatic door closure system under development is ready.
Besides DoorDash, Waymo also pays Honk highway assistance company workers to close their robot taxi doors. The payment for Honk workers to close doors reaches US$24 or about Rp 400,000.
The problem faced by Waymo, a startup valued at US$126 billion (Rp 2,122 trillion), shows the limitations of autonomous technology in daily life without human intervention.
Waymo is part of Alphabet, Google’s parent company. Waymo’s business is categorised by Alphabet as Other Bets or ‘other bets’ which last year recorded a loss of US$7.5 billion (Rp 126 trillion).
Previously, Waymo also revealed their dependence on human operators spread across the world, including in neighbouring country Indonesia, the Philippines. This was revealed in a US Senate hearing on 4 February.
Waymo’s safety chief, Mauricio Pena, said these workers act as guides when vehicles face situations that cannot be resolved independently.
“They provide guidance. They do not drive the vehicle remotely. Waymo always maintains control over dynamic driving tasks,” he said before the US Senate Committee, quoted from Straits Times, Wednesday (25/3/2026).
Waymo currently operates robotaxi services in several major cities, such as Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Austin. The company also plans to expand services to Boston, Dallas, Washington DC, and even London. By early 2026, Waymo’s autonomous vehicle fleet is estimated to reach 2,500 units.