Waymo Expands in Austin. Everything to Know About the Robotaxi

Self-driving automobiles are slowly turning into much less sci-fi and extra real-world as corporations like Waymo, the autonomous arm of Google’s mother or father Alphabet, broaden into extra cities. On Thursday, the corporate prolonged into extra components of Austin, Texas, so it now drives throughout 90 sq. miles of the town. There are greater than 100 Waymo autos within the metropolis, with plans for additional enlargement. 

Together with Austin, Waymo at the moment operates absolutely autonomous rides for most people in Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Atlanta, which occur aboard the all-electric Jaguar I-Tempo. The autos may be summoned both by way of the Waymo One app or Uber, relying on the town. Waymo plans to start providing rides in Washington, DC, and Miami beginning in 2026. In April, it stated it’s going to start driving its autos on Tokyo’s streets, making this the corporate’s first worldwide location.

Earlier this month, Waymo’s autos additionally arrived on the streets of New York Metropolis, the place the corporate will start by manually accumulating driving information. It is also rolling out a restricted fleet of autos with human drivers in Philadelphia. The purpose is to develop its know-how and presumably broaden its ride-hailing service to these cities sometime.

In January, Waymo introduced it could start testing with manually pushed autos in 10 new cities this yr, beginning with Las Vegas and San Diego. And in April, it stated it reached a preliminary settlement with Toyota to “discover a collaboration” geared towards growing autonomous driving tech, which may sometime be factored into personally owned autos. 

Waymo’s enlargement extends to its manufacturing amenities as nicely. In Might, the corporate stated it is opening a brand new, 239,000-square-foot autonomous automobile manufacturing unit within the Phoenix space. The plan is so as to add 2,000 extra absolutely autonomous Jaguar I-Tempo autos to its present 1,500-vehicle fleet. Notably, Waymo indicated it acquired its “closing supply from Jaguar” earlier this yr, because it plans for future iterations of its driverless rides. Waymo added that the “facility’s versatile design” will permit it to combine its upcoming sixth-generation self-driving know-how into new autos, beginning with the all-electric Zeekr RT. 

In October, Waymo additionally introduced that it is partnering with Hyundai to carry the following era of its know-how into Ioniq 5 SUVs. Within the years to return, riders will be capable of summon these all-electric, autonomous autos utilizing the Waymo One app. 

The self-driving firm says it supplies greater than 250,000 paid journeys every week and drives throughout greater than 700 sq. miles throughout the US. I’ve hailed a number of rides myself in San Francisco and, as off-putting as it may appear at first (particularly to see a steering wheel flip by itself), I shortly adjusted, and it quickly felt like an unusual journey.

That is to not say there hasn’t been pushback as Waymo rolls out to extra cities. The corporate’s autos have been concerned in a handful of high-profile collisions, together with one with a bicyclist in San Francisco and one other with a towed pickup truck in Phoenix. (Waymo recalled and up to date its software program to deal with the difficulty.) 

Waymo’s Security Impression report notes that over the course of 71 million autonomous miles pushed by March 2025, its Waymo Driver know-how had 88% fewer crashes resulting in critical accidents or worse and 78% fewer injury-causing crashes, in contrast with “a median human driver over the identical distance in our working cities.” It additionally reported considerably fewer crashes with accidents to pedestrians (93%), cyclists (81%) and motorcyclists (86%).

As Waymo continues to broaden and develop its self-driving tech, this is how and the place to summon the robotaxi in case you occur to be in one of many few cities the place the corporate at the moment operates its fleet. 

Hailing a journey in Phoenix

Phoenix was the primary metropolis to open up absolutely autonomous Waymo rides to the general public, in 2020. To hail a journey, obtain the Waymo One app on iOS or Android. The service operates 24 hours a day, seven days every week.

You can even use the Uber app to summon certainly one of Waymo’s autos in Phoenix. If you request an UberX, Uber Inexperienced, Uber Consolation or Uber Consolation Electrical journey, you may have the selection to substantiate a Waymo journey, in case you’re matched. 

Along with hailing a journey, you might also have your Uber Eats meal delivered by an autonomous automobile. When putting an order within the Phoenix space, you may get a be aware that “autonomous autos might ship your order.” When the Waymo automobile arrives, take your telephone with you to pop open the trunk and seize your supply. You’ll be able to decide out of this throughout checkout in case you’d slightly have a human ship your meals.

Hailing a journey within the San Francisco Bay Space

San Francisco adopted go well with after Phoenix, rolling out absolutely autonomous rides in late 2022. It scrapped the ready listing in June 2024, so now anybody can obtain the Waymo One app to journey anytime. The service additionally operates 24 hours a day, seven days every week. There’s at the moment no Uber partnership in San Francisco. 

In August 2024, Waymo expanded its ride-hailing service into the San Francisco Peninsula, and expanded once more in March in order that choose Waymo One riders who dwell in Mountain View, Los Altos, Palo Alto and components of Sunnyvale have the choice to hail a robotaxi there, too. In June, it expanded additional into the Peninsula, and its service space now contains Brisbane, South San Francisco, San Bruno, Millbrae, Burlingame, Daly Metropolis, Broadmoor and Colma. Choose riders can now additionally entry Mountain View and extra components of Palo Alto and Menlo Park.

In Might, the California Public Utilities Fee accepted Waymo’s utility to function in South Bay and almost all of San Jose, opening up the door to future expansions. 

Hailing a journey in Los Angeles County

In November, Waymo scrapped its waitlist for Los Angeles and started welcoming all public riders by way of the Waymo One app. Now any passengers can hop within the robotaxis 24/7 and journey throughout almost 120 sq. miles of LA County, together with Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Inglewood, Silver Lake, Playa del Rey, Ladera Heights, Echo Park and Downtown LA, and alongside all of Sundown Boulevard. 

There’s at the moment no Uber partnership in Los Angeles.

Hailing a journey in Austin

Riders can hail a Waymo throughout 90 sq. miles of Austin, together with neighborhoods like Crestview, Windsor Park and Franklin Park and areas like The Area and McKinney Falls State Park.

In Austin, the one strategy to hail a Waymo journey is thru Uber — no Waymo One app right here. By requesting an UberX, Uber Inexperienced, Uber Consolation or Uber Consolation Electrical, you possibly can be matched with a Waymo automobile — and you will not be upcharged. In the event you’d slightly not take a driverless journey, you may have the choice to modify to an ordinary one. Then again, if you wish to enhance your possibilities of being matched to a self-driving automobile, you’ll be able to go to Account > Settings > Autonomous autos, then hit the toggle subsequent to Get extra Waymo rides.

Unlock the door, pop open the trunk and begin the journey from the Uber app. You will nonetheless be requested to fee your journey on the finish, however you will not be requested to tip.

If there are any points, riders can entry human assist 24/7 by way of the Uber app and from contained in the Waymo automobile (there are screens in the back and front that allow you to shortly summon buyer assist).

As a part of the Uber partnership, Uber will handle duties like automobile cleansing and restore, whereas “Waymo will proceed to be accountable for the testing and operation of the Waymo Driver, together with roadside help and sure rider assist capabilities,” the businesses stated. The collaboration ought to make autonomous rides accessible to extra folks, who now will not must obtain a separate app to hitch a journey in a robotaxi.

Hailing a journey in Atlanta

Waymo operates throughout 65 sq. miles of Atlanta, with plans for future expansions. Like in Austin, you’ll be able to climb aboard a Waymo robotaxi solely by way of the Uber app. If you guide a journey by UberX, Uber Consolation or Uber Consolation Electrical, you may be paired with a Waymo automobile at no further value. You will have the choice to simply accept or decline the driverless journey every time. 

You’ll be able to unlock the automobile, pop the trunk and begin the journey all from the Uber app, and you’ll entry human assist 24/7 by way of the Uber app and from touchscreens contained in the automobile.

If you wish to enhance your possibilities of being paired with a Waymo automobile, you’ll be able to decide in by going to the Uber app, tapping Account > Settings > Autonomous autos (underneath Experience Preferences), after which hitting the toggle subsequent to Get extra Waymo rides.

Upcoming expansions 

New York Metropolis

In June, Waymo shared plans to carry its autonomous tech again to New York Metropolis, after having first operated by hand its autos there in 2021. It’s going to as soon as once more begin by driving manually within the Huge Apple, because it waits to listen to about its allow utility with the New York Metropolis Division of Transportation to function autonomously with a human behind the wheel. Waymo isn’t but increasing its ride-hailing service to New York Metropolis, however says it plans to take action sooner or later.

Present legal guidelines within the state of New York do not allow the identical absolutely autonomous ride-hailing service that corporations like Waymo provide in different components of the nation. Waymo says it is “advocating for a change in state legislation that might permit for working a automobile with no human behind the wheel,” including, “we’ve each intention of bringing our absolutely autonomous ride-hailing service to the town sooner or later.” 

In early July, Waymo started manually working its autos in Manhattan, components of Downtown Brooklyn, Jersey Metropolis and Hoboken. If NYCDOT grants the corporate’s allow, Waymo says it’s going to drive autonomously with a specialist behind the wheel in New York Metropolis, however not in New Jersey.

Philadelphia

Waymo stated in July that it is bringing a restricted fleet of its autos to “essentially the most complicated components” of Philadelphia, “together with downtown and freeways.” These autos can have human drivers behind the wheel as the corporate continues to develop its driving capabilities. There aren’t any speedy plans to launch a robotaxi service there.

Washington, DC

Waymo plans to start out providing rides by its Waymo One app in Washington, DC, in 2026. The corporate returned to the nation’s capital in January to check its autonomous driving tech. In late March, it stated it was bringing extra autos to the town and dealing to scale its service all year long. In a weblog put up, Waymo stated it’s going to “proceed to work intently with policymakers to formalize the laws wanted to function with no human behind the wheel within the District.”

Miami 

You will even have to attend till 2026 to journey a Waymo in Miami. The corporate has been conducting climate testing within the lead-up to that eventual rollout, noting in a weblog put up, “Our earlier street journeys to the Sunshine State’s difficult wet circumstances have been invaluable in advancing our autonomous driving capabilities.”

Waymo will collaborate with Moove, a fintech firm that gives automobile financing, first in Phoenix, the place Moove will handle the robotaxi’s fleet operations, amenities and charging infrastructure. In Phoenix after which Miami, “Waymo will proceed to supply our service by the Waymo One app, and stay accountable for validation and operation of the Waymo Driver,” the corporate stated in a weblog put up.

Tokyo

Waymo’s enlargement into Tokyo, which was introduced in December, is going on in partnership with Japanese taxi service Nihon Kotsu and taxi app Go. In April, the self-driving firm shared that it is lastly able to hit the street overseas.

Waymo says educated Nihon Kotsu drivers will manually drive its autos throughout seven Tokyo wards, together with Minato, Shinjuku, Shibuya, Chiyoda, Chūō, Shinagawa and Kōtō. It will permit engineers to check and adapt Waymo’s autonomous driving tech to native street options and site visitors. 

“In Tokyo, we’re abiding by the identical steadfast rules that information us within the US — dedication to security, dedication to incomes belief in communities the place we function, and collaboration with native officers and group teams right here in Tokyo,” Nicole Gavel, Waymo’s head of enterprise improvement and strategic partnerships, stated in a press release.

It isn’t clear when riders will be capable of hitch a self-driving journey with Waymo in Tokyo.

The street forward: Future autos

In August, Waymo unveiled the sixth era of its self-driving know-how, which strives to broaden the capabilities of its driverless fleet. Smarter sensors are supposed to assist the automobiles higher navigate in excessive climate, Waymo stated. The sixth-gen Driver will come aboard the all-electric Zeekr automobile, which encompasses a flat flooring, extra head- and legroom, adjustable seats and a detachable steering wheel and pedals. The up to date tech continues to be being examined, however the firm says it’s going to be out there to riders quickly.

In October, Waymo additionally introduced a partnership with Hyundai to combine its sixth-generation Driver into the all-electric Ioniq 5 SUV, which, in keeping with a weblog put up, “will likely be added to the Waymo One fleet over time.” The businesses added that they “plan to provide a fleet of Ioniq 5s geared up with Waymo’s know-how in vital quantity over a number of years to assist Waymo One’s rising scale.” Testing with these autos will begin by late 2025 and turn into out there “within the years to comply with.”

Presently, on a regular basis riders cannot take a Waymo automobile on highways and freeways, however that will quickly change. The corporate is testing absolutely autonomous rides on freeways in Phoenix, as seen in an unique video shared with CNET in Might. It is also now making absolutely autonomous freeway rides out there to Waymo workers in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Space.

Waymo is working to broaden its autonomous driving tech into trucking as nicely, nevertheless it stated final yr that it is scaling again these efforts in the meanwhile, to concentrate on ride-hailing with Waymo One. It famous, “Our ongoing funding in advancing Waymo Driver capabilities, particularly on freeways, will immediately translate to trucking and profit its improvement efforts.”