You can count UCLA Luskin’s Juan Matute among those excited about the potential of driverless vehicles, according to a recent article in the Los Angeles Times that rounded up reaction to a 24/7 robotaxi service recently launched in Santa Monica by Waymo.  The Silicon Valley-based driverless car company began offering Waymo One to the public in mid-October, and the reaction has not been universally positive. Matute, deputy director of the UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies, decided to experience it for himself, taking three rides with Waymo already. He’s a safe streets advocate who thinks self-driving vehicles are probably safer than human drivers. Vehicle automation can “help with some of the issues we have with distracted driving because an autonomous vehicle is never distracted,” Matute told the Times.