Why is Waymo paying DoorDash drivers to shut robotaxi doors?

Small human tasks fill an autonomous gap

Waymo has enlisted gig workers from DoorDash to close the doors of its autonomous vehicles after some rides ended with passengers leaving doors ajar. The company’s robotaxis are designed to operate without humans, but engineers found that when riders failed to shut a door after exiting, the vehicle could become inert or unable to continue its route until the door was secured.

To bridge that operational hole, Waymo launched a pilot that offers nearby DoorDash drivers a short paid task to approach the vehicle and shut the door. Reported payments in early offers ranged in the single digits — roughly a few dollars per stop, with some listings cited at about $6.25 and others indicating higher amounts — reflecting the microtask nature of the job.

What this reveals:

• Autonomous systems still depend on predictable human behaviour. Small, non-safety-critical interactions like closing a door can halt vehicle operations if not handled in software and hardware design.
• Using gig workers as ad hoc assistants is a pragmatic short-term fix but raises questions about scalability, cost, and user experience as services expand beyond pilots and employee-only trips.
• The program underscores the challenge of fully removing humans from complex real-world services: edge cases and rare human actions often require hybrid human–machine solutions while companies refine software and vehicle design.

Waymo’s approach shows how companies deploying robotaxis are iterating operationally: solving one usability gap at a time while the industry works toward designs and policies that eliminate the need for ad-hoc human intervention.