Waymo announces robotaxi expansion to Miami

Waymo has its sights set on its next location: the Sunshine State.

The alphabet-owned company announced Thursday that it will hit the streets in Miami. Waymo said it will debut human safety drivers around the Florida city in 2025 before opening the doors to riders for its robotaxi service in 2026 via its Waymo One app.

The expansion to Miami is a sign of Waymo’s growing confidence in deploying its self-driving vehicles in harsher weather conditions in major metropolitan areas across the United States

Waymo first tested in Miami in 2019, helping improve the ability of its self-driving vehicles to navigate in wet and rainy conditions, according to the company.

“We have deepened our learning and understanding of the Waymo Driver’s performance in adverse weather conditions,” a company spokesperson said.

Waymo will use what it learned when it returns to the city next year with its all-electric Jaguar I-PACEs.

The company said its first Florida territory will include some parts of the larger Miami metropolitan area, home to more than 6 million people.

Waymo has rapidly expanded its operations over the last year thanks to additional funding.

In November, the company announced it was eliminating its waiting list of about 300,000 people in Los Angeles so that anyone can use Waymo One to hail a self-driving robotaxi across nearly 80 square miles of Los Angeles County. The company’s ride-hailing service also operates citywide in Phoenix and San Francisco.

And in September, Waymo announced a partnership with Above in Austin and Atlanta. Through this deal, Uber drivers will be able to access Waymo’s robotaxis through the Uber app starting in early 2025, and Uber will be responsible for fleet management and operations of Waymo vehicles, including maintenance and infrastructure such as charging, cleaning and repairs of the vehicles .

Additionally, Waymo announced Thursday that it will partner with mobility company Moove to manage fleet operations, facilities and charging infrastructure in Miami and Phoenix. Moove will begin managing Waymo’s Phoenix fleet in early 2025, a Waymo spokesperson said.

Waymo closed a $5.6 billion funding round in October to expand its robotaxi service in the United States. Alphabet, the parent company of the autonomous vehicle company that also owns Google, led the funding round along with previous backers including Andreessen Horowitz, Fidelity, Perry Creek and Silver Lake, Tiger Global and T. Rowe Price.

The robotaxi company said it now has more than 150,000 paid rides per week in San Francisco, Phoenix and Los Angeles through the Waymo One app.

Waymo is the only autonomous vehicle developer currently operating a commercial robotaxi service in several major U.S. metropolitan areas, but competitors are looming.

GM-owned Cruise is working to get its autonomous vehicles back on public roads after suspending their services following an accident in which one of its self-driving cars injured a pedestrian in San Francisco.

Tesla, meanwhile, presented design concepts for a self-driving cybercab and a robovan at an event in October. However, Tesla still classifies the autopilot and the full self-driving software in its vehicles as “partially automated driving systems,” which require a human to be ready to steer or brake at all times. In an earnings call in October, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the company would launch a self-driving ride-hailing service in California and Texas as early as 2025.

SoftBank-backed Wayve is testing its autonomous vehicles in San Francisco AmazonThe company’s own company, Zoox, is also testing its self-driving cars, which do not have a steering wheel, in several US cities.

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