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Next year, Waymo will double the number of cities where you can ride in its fully autonomous vehicles, bringing its rider-only service to Dallas, Houston, Orlando, Miami, and San Antonio.
Employees are now able to ride in the vehicles without onboard operators in Miami; that's rolling out in the other four cities in the “coming weeks.” It's already operational in Atlanta, Austin, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and San Francisco.
In selecting new launch cities, "We compare our driving performance against a proven baseline to validate the performance of the Waymo Driver and identify any unique local characteristics," Waymo said in a blog post. "As needed, we then refine the Waymo Driver’s AI to navigate these local nuances—which are becoming fewer with every city.”
Waymo has ramped up its services throughout 2025 as competition from alternatives, such as Tesla and Zoox, have gained momentum. Amazon-owned Zoox announced on Tuesday that it will soon begin to offer its robotaxi service to customers in San Francisco. As it's doing in Las Vegas, Zoox plans to offer free rides in California at first to help it challenge Waymo's lead. You can now sign up for a waitlist via its Android and iOS apps.
Waymo is also testing in Detroit, Las Vegas, Nashville, New York City, San Diego, and Washington, DC, as well as Tokyo and London.
Last week, Waymo said it will now allow its vehicles to drive on highways for the first time in Los Angeles, Phoenix, and San Francisco to help speed up journeys for its customers.