The self-driving car company Waymo is getting ready to dramatically increase its presence across America and beyond, with plans to quadruple its weekly rides by late next year while entering dozens of new cities. The autonomous vehicle service, owned by Alphabet, currently gives about 250,000 rides each week. Company officials say they want to reach 1 million weekly rides before 2026 ends. Since starting public service in 2020, Waymo has completed 20 million total trips. Waymo traces its roots to 2009, when Google launched the project inside its experimental X division. The company took its current name in 2016. Two years later, it teamed up with British carmaker Jaguar, using the I-Pace electric vehicle for its testing program. This model remains the most common vehicle riders see today. Right now, people in San Francisco, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Austin, and Atlanta can open the Waymo app and request a ride in a car with no driver. The service also works through Uber in Austin and Atlanta. Alphabet shares rose during morning trading Friday following news of the expansion. The company is entering what it calls its most aggressive growth period yet. Twenty new markets are coming to the Waymo network in the next year. Testing is already underway in several southern cities, including Miami, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and Orlando. Full service should start in early 2026 in these locations. Out west, Las Vegas and San Diego are joining the list with service expected sometime in 2026. The northeast presents unique challenges. Waymo is testing in Detroit and Washington, D.C., with 2026 launches planned. Earlier this month, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and St. Louis were added to the schedule. Northern cities bring special problems because snow and bad weather can cover the sensors these vehicles need to navigate. To handle this, Waymo will start service in these cities with human operators sitting in the driver’s seat, ready to take control if something goes wrong. New York City is also getting tests, though the company gave no timeline for when actual service might begin there. Special permits are required, making the process slower. Waymo’s first service outside the United States will launch in London in 2026. The company has been running tests in Tokyo since April. Tesla operates its own ride service with safety drivers present. That service only reached Austin and the San Francisco Bay Area in mid-2025. The company says Nevada and Phoenix will come next year. To build enough vehicles for this expansion, Waymo is growing its manufacturing capacity. Working with partner Magna, the company is doubling production at its Arizona factory. More than 2,000 vehicles should roll out of that plant by the end of 2026. A new partnership with Zeekr will help build the next generation of robotaxis. The goal is to produce tens of thousands of autonomous vehicles each year. Wall Street analysts mostly like what they see “Waymo is furthest along in true driverless deployment,” wrote Edison Yu from Deutsche Bank in early December. He noted the service already runs fully autonomous rides in multiple cities with no safety driver needed for many trips. Yu did point out concerns about Waymo’s reliance on expensive equipment like lidar sensors, radar, and cameras. He said these high costs and the need for detailed maps could slow down expansion and make each vehicle more expensive. Morgan Stanley’s Adam Jonas agrees the technology works well, but worries about costs compared to Tesla. Tesla uses only cameras with computer learning systems, similar to how a human driver uses their eyes. Waymo and supporters say using multiple sensors improves reliability and safety. Safety numbers back this up. Waymo data shows human drivers are five times more likely to crash and cause an injury. The robotaxis have 0.8 crashes per 1 million miles compared to 3.96 for human drivers. Tesla numbers from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration show seven crashes in 250,000 miles, which equals about 28 crashes per 1 million miles. Getting permission from city governments remains complicated for both companies. Federal guidelines from NHTSA might be coming. Public opinion seems to be warming up An electrical blackout in San Francisco on December 20 created embarrassment for Waymo when its cars got stuck in the streets because traffic lights stopped working. The company says a software fix will prevent this problem. Still, safety matters most, and Waymo’s strong safety record helps convince cities and passengers to try the service. A survey from April 2024 found 45% of people thought robotaxis were safe, while 37% disagreed. In cities where Waymo already operates, support jumped to 54% with only 32% opposed. A July survey in San Francisco showed 67% of residents now support driverless robotaxis, up from 44% in 2023. Overall favorability ratings went from negative 7% in late 2023 to positive 38% in mid-2025. Don’t just read crypto news. Understand it. Subscribe to our newsletter. It's free .
