Waymo Now on DoorDash …

… in Phoenix.

As the self-driving vehicle company announced a couple months ago, it has partnered with DoorDash for the Phoenix metro area. Now, it has arrived.

“Starting today, customers who select the Standard delivery option at participating DashMart locations will be automatically eligible for fully autonomous delivery by Waymo — bringing the benefits of autonomous technology to local commerce one delivery at a time,” Waymo writes.

It’s a little funny to me — I know Phoenix has good weather for self-driving vehicles, but it’s funny that this is the city where Waymo innovates and launches services first. Phoenix.

Anyway, I’m not a huge fan of human workers being pushed out of jobs like this — and let’s be honest, a bit like self-checkout cash registers, it’s another case of companies asking customers to do a bit of the work — but for those who are eager to see safer self-driving vehicles improve and grow, it’s a notable step forward. If you are a DoorDash user and really want your food delivered by robot (or you’re just curious about this), here is how the process works:

• Place your order from DashMart through the DoorDash app
• Select Standard delivery at checkout to enable Waymo as a potential delivery method for your order
• If your order is assigned to a Waymo vehicle, you’ll receive instructions in the DoorDash app
• When the vehicle arrives, use your DoorDash app to securely unlock the trunk and retrieve your order

Simple.

“We’re starting with deliveries from DashMart sites and are exploring more ways to integrate local merchants into the program soon,” the company adds. I’m not entirely sure what that means, since I don’t use DoorDash, but I assume users do.

Another step forward for Waymo, to go along with all of these. The next question is: how long until Waymo has partnered with DoorDash in San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Austin, Atlanta, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, New Orleans, Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Las Vegas, Denver, Seattle, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Detroit, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Nashville, and Washington, DC. Yes, those are the markets were its robotaxi service is now active (San Francisco, Los Angeles, Austin, and Atlanta, as well as Phoenix of course) or soon going to be active.