Robotaxi pioneer Waymo has added Dallas to its expanding list of cities where people will be able to request a driverless ride beginning sometime next year in attempt to further distance itself from rivals still scrambling to catch up in the autonomous race.
Dallas will become the second major Texas city where Waymo’s robotaxis, following the company’s move into Austin earlier this year as part of a partnership with ride-hailing leader Uber.
Unlike the Austin driverless rides that must be ordered through Uber’s app, Waymo will deploy its Dallas robotaxis through its own service and team up with the Avis Budget Group to manage its fleet there. Waymo hasn’t set an exact date in 2026 for when its robotaxis will begin cruising through Dallas, which joins Washington D.C. and Miami as cities where the company plans to expand next year.
Waymo’s robotaxis have already provided more than 250,000 trips in Austin and several other major U.S. cities, including Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Atlanta.
As the company continues to expand into new cities, it is pulling even further ahead from the rest of the pack trying to launch driverless ride-hailing services.
The aspiring rivals include Tesla, which launched a limited robotaxi service in Austin last month as a prelude to what CEO Elon Musk has repeatedly promised will be a nationwide fleet of driverless cars, even as the automaker faces legal challenges questioning the capability of its autonomous technology.
Amazon is also aiming to roll out robotaxis in Las Vegas late this year as part of its Zoox self-driving division. And Uber and Lyft have been relying on a variety of partnerships to supplement their fleet of human-driven vehicles with more driverless options.
While others are still trying to get their robotaxis out of the starting blocks, it has been nearly five years since Waymo’s driverless ride-hailing service made its debut in Phoenix with a technology that began as a secret project within Google in 2009. Waymo spun out from Google in 2016, but the two companies remain tethered under the same corporate parent, Alphabet Inc.
Waymo is still testing the possibility of bringing its robotaxis to at least two other Texas cities — Houston and San Antonio — while also exploring a potential expansion in San Diego, Boston and New York. It is also eyeing Tokyo as its first robotaxi market outside the U.S.
The post Waymo plans to dispatch robotaxis in Dallas next year as its driverless expansion races ahead appeared first on Associated Press.
