Uber teams up with Waymo to start selling driverless rides in Austin,
Texas
[March 05, 2025] By
MICHAEL LIEDTKE
Uber will shift into a new gear in Austin, Texas, on Tuesday when its
ride-hailing service will begin dispatching self-driving cars to pick up
passengers.
The autonomous option is being provided through a partnership that
brings together Uber and robotaxi pioneer Waymo, which already sells
self-driving vehicle rides through its own app in Phoenix, San Francisco
and Los Angeles.
Waymo is now trying to expand into more cities by teaming up with Uber —
an alliance that was announced last September.
The partnership begins in Austin and will, later this year, expand to
offer robotaxi rides in Atlanta.
Waymo's robotaxis will be hitting the streets of Austin ahead of Tesla
CEO Elon Musk's goal of launching a fleet of electric self-driving cars
later this year.
Uber's network of human-driven cars will continue to give rides in
Austin, too, but tapping into Waymo's robotaxis will give it another
selling point that could be popular among passengers eager to try out a
cutting-edge technology.
“With Waymo’s technology and Uber’s proven platform, we’re ready to
bring you the ride of the future, today,” Uber crowed about the
robotaxis coming to Austin.
Uber's longtime rival, Lyft, is also planning to add robotaxis to its
network in Atlanta later this year as part of a partnership with May
Mobility and hopes to begin deploying self-driving cars in Dallas as
next year. Uber also has joined forces with Avride to begin dispatching
robotaxis in Dallas next year.
Although there is no way passengers can guarantee that a ride ordered
through Uber's app in Austin will be provided by one of Waymo's
robotaxis, they can increase their chances of getting a self-driven car
by going into their settings and turning on the autonomous vehicle
preference.
When it sends a Waymo car to pick up a passenger, Uber's app will send a
notification that the ride will be provided by a self-driving car while
also offering the option to switch to a human-controlled vehicle
instead.
[to top of second column] |
Two Waymo driverless taxis stop before passing one another on a San
Francisco street on Feb. 15, 2023. (AP Photo/Terry Chea, File)
 Originally started as a secret
project within Google, Waymo has been making major inroads since its
robotaxis first began charging for rides in Phoenix nearly five
years ago. Waymo's robotaxis are now averaging 200,000 paid rides
per week, up from about 10,000 weekly rides two years ago, according
to a recent post by Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, who runs the
Mountain View, California, company that owns Google as well as Waymo.
After expanding into Austin and Atlanta this year as part of the
Uber partnership, Waymo also plans to begin offering rides in Miami
next year through its own app, mirroring how it already runs its
service in Phoenix, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Waymo, so far, has avoided a major traffic accident or other safety
problems that might give regulators second thoughts about allowing
its robotaxis to remain on the road.
Automaker General Motors tried to compete against Waymo in San
Francisco with a robotaxi service operated by its Cruise subsidiary,
but had its California license suspended in October 2023 after one
of its self-driving cars dragged an injured pedestrian about 20 feet
before coming to a stop.
Uber also struck a deal last year to eventually deploy Cruise's
robotaxis in cities that were never identified before General Motors
pulled the plug on its fleet of self-driving cars.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved
 |
