Waymo has launched its robotaxi service to the first public riders in Nashville, Tennessee. Riders can hail autonomous vehicles through the Waymo app after receiving an invite, with expansion planned on a rolling basis. The service will also integrate with the Lyft app later this year.
Waymo, owned by Alphabet, began offering fully driverless rides in Nashville on Tuesday. The initial service covers 60 square miles, including neighborhoods such as Midtown, 12 South, East Nashville and Broadway. The company is testing operations at Nashville International Airport and aims to serve travelers there soon. Nashville marks Waymo's first location in Tennessee and its 11th metro area overall, joining Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Austin, Atlanta, Miami, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Orlando. Further expansions to dozens of cities are planned in the coming months and years. Waymo already operates at four international airports: Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, San Jose Mineta International Airport, San Francisco International Airport and San Antonio International Airport. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee welcomed the launch, stating, “By leveraging private sector technologies like Waymo's fully autonomous vehicles, we're expanding mobility in ways we couldn't achieve on our own and further accelerating economic growth.” Later this year, Waymo vehicles will become available via the Lyft app, with Lyft handling fleet maintenance and cleaning. To ride, interested users should download the Waymo app and check social channels for access codes. Waymo highlighted its safety record, noting that over 170 million autonomous miles driven through December 2025 resulted in a 13-fold reduction in serious injury crashes and pedestrian injury crashes compared to human drivers.
