Waymo is letting residents in Phoenix test its self-driving cars

Google's self-driving car company Waymo just opened up a pilot program in Phoenix, Arizona, letting people get free rides in its driverless minivans.

The program, Waymo said in a blog post Tuesday, is open to "hundreds of people with diverse backgrounds and transportation needs." And those folks won't just get one or two rides. The program will give them access to Waymo's fleet of cars every day, at any time, as long as they keep their destinations in the Phoenix area.

More precisely, Waymo is looking for people in parts of the Phoenix metropolitan area, which includes Chandler, Tempe, Mesa and Gilbert. Only folks that are 18 years or older may apply, and only one per household. But once you're accepted, all eligible members of your family can take the rides. Check out the project's FAQ here for all the details.

As for the types of cars Waymo's early riders will be riding in, the company's Lexus RX450h SUV and the Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivan are two examples.

Waymo has plenty of the latter, in case you're worried. The company also announced on Tuesday it's adding another 500 self-driving Chrysler Pacifica Hybrids to its fleet, bringing the total number to 600.

It is all intended to be as safe as possible, too, as each car will have a test driver at the wheel, monitoring the rides at all times.

The goal of the program, according to Waymo, is to learn "things like where people want to go in a self-driving car, how they communicate with our vehicles, and what information and controls they want to see inside."

This is the first time Waymo is opening up its self-driving car project to the people (if you don't count the handful of early "early riders" who are featured in the video, above). Uber (who is being sued by Waymo for allegedly stealing some of its self-driving car IP) has done something similar in California, Pennsylvania and Arizona this year, but the results were less than perfect.

To apply for Waymo's pilot program, go here.