As businesses like Waymo, the autonomous shoulder of Google’s parent Alphabet, grow into more towns, self-driving vehicles are gradually evolving into  less sci-fi and more real-world&nbsp. Its newest company place: Atlanta, through a relationship with Uber. There are strategies for additional additions, and the city’s current users can now go across 65 square miles of the city. &nbsp,

Next week, the robotaxi services expanded to greater areas of Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area. Bay Area users may hail a completely automatic Waymo walk in Brisbane, South San Francisco, San Bruno, Millbrae and Burlingame via the Waymo One game, and limited users can access Mountain View and more of Palo Alto and Menlo Park. LA residents can use the ride-hailing support in Ladera Heights, Echo Park, Silver Lake, and all of Sunset Boulevard. They can also go directly from Mid-City to Inglewood and Westchester via La Cienega and La Brea, expanding Waymo’s LA County service region to more than 120 square kilometers.

And in New York City, Waymo will started testing its self-sufficient technology from the beginning of the month. In June, Waymo shared that it applied for a force with the New York City Department of Transportation to travel freely in Manhattan, with a safety drivers behind the wheel. The business will continue to drive personally in the area in the interim, as it did in 2021. Waymo even says it’s “advocating for a change in position law that would allow for operating a car with no man behind the wheel”, adding,” we have every intention of bringing our completely autonomous ride-hailing support to the city in the future”. The state of New York’s existing laws prevent the entirely automatic ride-hailing support that Waymo and other companies offer.

Waymo now operates fully autonomous trips for the general public in Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Austin, Texas, which take place aboard the all-electric&nbsp, Jaguar I-Pace. Starting in 2026, the company intends to start supplying excursions in Miami and Washington, DC. In April, Waymo said it’ll start driving its cars on Tokyo’s roads, making this the organization ‘s&nbsp, first global location.

Waymo announced in January that it would start testing personally driven cars in 10 new cities this time, starting with Las Vegas and San Diego, in addition to those launch. And in April, Waymo said it reached a tentative contract with Toyota to “explore a collaboration” geared toward developing automatic driving tech, which may eventually be factored into privately owned vehicles, also. &nbsp,

Waymo’s development extends to its production services as well. In the Phoenix area, the business announced in May that it would start a novel, 239, 000-square-foot automatic vehicle manufacturer. The program is to include 2, 000 more fully automatic Jaguar I-Pace cars to its existing 1, 500-vehicle ship. Waymo’s plans for upcoming iterations of its autonomous rides include the fact that it noted earlier this year that it had received its “final delivery from Jaguar.” Waymo added that the “facility’s versatile style” will allow it to connect its upcoming&nbsp, sixth-generation&nbsp, self-driving technologies into new cars, starting with the all-electric&nbsp, Zeekr RT. ,

In October, Waymo even announced that it ‘s&nbsp, partnering with Hyundai to take the next generation of its tech into&nbsp, Ioniq 5 SUVs. Users will be able to conjure those all-electric, automatic cars using the Waymo One software in the years to come. &nbsp,

Waymo claims to offer more than 250, 000 paid visits per year. I’ve hailed several rides myself in San Francisco and, as off-putting as it can seem at first (especially to see a steering wheel turn by itself ), I quickly adjusted, and it soon felt like an ordinary ride.

That doesn’t mean there hasn’t been criticism as Waymo expands to other cities. The company’s vehicles have been involved in a handful of high-profile collisions, including&nbsp, one with a bicyclist&nbsp, in San Francisco and another with a towed pickup truck in Phoenix. ( Waymo recalled and updated its software to address the problem. ) &nbsp,

In contrast to” an average human driver over the same distance in our operating cities,” Waymo’s Safety Impact report notes that its Waymo Driver technology had 88 % fewer crashes leading to serious injuries or worse and 78 % fewer crashes causing injuries over the course of 71 million autonomous miles driven through March 2025. It also reported significantly fewer crashes with injuries to pedestrians (93 % ), cyclists ( 81 % ) and motorcyclists (86 % ).

If you happen to be in one of the few cities where Waymo’s fleet is currently being run by its fleet, here’s how and where to summon the robotaxi as Waymo continues to expand and develop its self-driving technology. &nbsp,

Watch this for Waymo’s Safe Exit feature testing in a self-driving taxi.

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Hailing a ride in Phoenix

In 2020, Phoenix became the first city to offer completely autonomous Waymo rides to the general public. To hail a ride, download the&nbsp, Waymo One app on&nbsp, iOS&nbsp, or&nbsp, Android. The service is available seven days a week, seven days a week.

You can also use the Uber app to summon one of Waymo’s vehicles in Phoenix. You will have the option to confirm a Waymo ride when you request an UberX, Uber Green, an Uber Comfort, or an Uber Comfort Electric ride, if you’re matched. &nbsp,

You may also have your Uber Eats meal delivered by an autonomous car in addition to hailing a ride. When placing an order in the Phoenix area, you might get a note that “autonomous vehicles may deliver your order”. Bring your phone with you to the Waymo car to open the trunk and pick up your package. You can opt out of this during checkout if you’d rather have a human deliver your food.

Getting a ride in the San Francisco Bay Area

San Francisco followed suit after Phoenix, rolling out&nbsp, fully autonomous rides in late 2022. In June 2024, the waiting list was removed, so anyone can now download the Waymo One app anywhere. The service also operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In San Francisco, there isn’t a current Uber partnership. &nbsp,

Waymo expanded its ride-hailing service in the San Francisco Peninsula in August 2024, and it expanded once more in March so that residents of Mountain View, Los Altos, Palo Altos, Palo Alto, and parts of Sunnyvale can also hail a robotaxi there. In June, it expanded further into the Peninsula, and its service area now includes Brisbane, South San Francisco, San Bruno, Millbrae, Burlingame, Daly City, Broadmoor and Colma. Select riders now have access to Mountain View and more of Menlo Park and Palo Alto.

In May, the California Public Utilities Commission approved Waymo’s application to operate in South Bay and nearly all of San Jose, opening up the door to future expansions. &nbsp,

Hailing a ride in Los Angeles County

Waymo began welcoming all public riders via the Waymo One app in November after dropping its waitlist for Los Angeles. Now any interested passengers can hop in the robotaxis 24/7 and ride across nearly 120 square miles of LA County, including Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Inglewood, Silver Lake, Playa del Rey and Downtown LA. &nbsp,

There’s currently no Uber partnership in Los Angeles.

Getting a ride in Austin

In Austin, the only way to hail a Waymo ride is through Uber— no Waymo One app here. You could be matched with a Waymo vehicle by requesting an UberX, Uber Green, an Uber Comfort, or an Uber Comfort Electric, and you won’t be charged extra. If you’d rather not take a driverless ride, you’ll have the option to switch to a standard one. On the other hand, you can go to Cont&nbsp, &gt, &nbsp, Settings&gt, &nbsp, Autonomous vehicles, and hit the toggle next to Get more Waymo rides if you want to increase your chances of being matched with a self-driving car.

Unlock the door, pop open the trunk and start the ride from the Uber app. You’ll still be asked to rate your ride at the end, but you won’t be asked to leave a tip.

If there are any issues, riders can access human support 24/7 via the Uber app and from inside the Waymo vehicle ( there are screens in the front and back that let you quickly summon customer support ).

According to the companies,” Waymo will continue to be responsible for the testing and operation of the Waymo Driver, including roadside assistance and some rider support functions,” while Uber will manage tasks like vehicle cleaning and repair. The collaboration should make autonomous rides accessible to more people, who now won’t have to download a separate app to hitch a ride in a robotaxi.

Waymo currently has plans for additional 37 square miles of expansion in the city.

Hailing a ride in Atlanta

You can only climb aboard a Waymo robotaxi using the Uber app, like in Austin. When you book a ride through UberX, Uber Comfort or Uber Comfort Electric, you might be paired with a Waymo vehicle at no additional cost. Each time, you’ll have the option to accept or decline the driverless ride. &nbsp,

There are plans for additional expansions, and passengers can travel across Atlanta at the start of the season. &nbsp,

The Uber app and touchscreens inside the car allow you to access human support 24/7, as well as unlock the vehicle, pop the trunk, and begin the journey.

If you want to boost your chances of being paired with a Waymo vehicle, you can opt in by going to the Uber app, tapping&nbsp, Cont&nbsp, &gt, &nbsp, Setări&nbsp, &gt, &nbsp, Autonomous vehicles&nbsp, ( under Ride Preferences ), and then hitting the toggle next to&nbsp, Get more Waymo rides.

Coming soon: Tokyo, Miami, New York City, and Washington, D.C.

Waymo plans to start offering rides through its Waymo One app in Washington, DC, in 2026. In January, the business tested its autonomous driving technology in a second location in the nation’s capital. In late March, it said it was bringing more vehicles to the city and working to scale its service throughout the year. Waymo stated in a postare pe blog that it will” continue to work closely with policymakers to formalize the rules necessary to operate in the District without a human being behind the wheel.”

You’ll also have to wait until 2026 to ride a Waymo in Miami. In the run-up to that eventual rollout, the company has been testing weather and is reporting in a&nbsp postare pe blog that “our prior road trips to the Sunshine State’s challenging rainy conditions have been invaluable in advance of our autonomous driving capabilities.”

Waymo will collaborate with Moove, a fintech company that offers vehicle financing, first in Phoenix, where Moove will manage the robotaxi’s fleet operations, facilities and charging infrastructure. Waymo will continue to offer our service through the Waymo One app in Phoenix and then Miami, according to the company’s announcement in a&nbsp, postare pe blog.

In June, Waymo shared plans to bring its autonomous tech back to New York City, after having first manually operated its vehicles there in 2021. In the Big Apple, it’ll once more begin by manually driving as it prepares to receive a notification about its request to operate autonomously while a human is driving. Waymo is not yet expanding its ride-hailing service to New York City, but says it plans to do so in the future.

The partnership between Waymo’s expansion into Tokyo and the Japanese taxi service Nihon Kotsu and the taxi app Go was announced in December. In April, the self-driving company shared that it’s finally ready to hit the road abroad.

Waymo claims that certified Nihon Kotsu drivers will manually drive their vehicles in seven Tokyo wards, including Minato, Shinjuku, Shibuya, Chiyoda, Ch, Shinagawa, and Kt. This will allow engineers to test and adapt Waymo’s autonomous driving tech to local road features and traffic. &nbsp,

” In Tokyo, we are abiding by the same steadfast principles that guide us in the US– commitment to safety, dedication to earning trust in communities where we operate, and collaboration with local officials and community groups here in Tokyo”, Nicole Gavel, Waymo’s head of business development and strategic partnerships, said in a statement.

When will Waymo’s self-driving riders be able to accompanies them in Tokyo?

The road ahead: Future vehicles

Waymo unveiled the sixth generation of its self-driving technology in August, which aims to expand the capabilities of its driverless fleet. Smarter sensors are meant to help the cars better navigate in extreme weather, Waymo said. The all-electric Zeekr vehicle, which has a flat floor, more head- and legroom, adjustable seats, and a removable steering wheel and pedals, will welcome the sixth-generation Driver. The updated tech is still being tested but the company says it’ll be available to riders soon.

Waymo also announced a partnership with Hyundai in October to incorporate its sixth-generation Driver into the all-electric Ioniq 5 SUV, which, according to a blog post,” will be added to the Waymo One fleet over time.” The companies added that they “plan to produce a fleet of Ioniq 5s equipped with Waymo’s technology in significant volume over multiple years to support Waymo One’s growing scale”. By the end of the 2025, testing with these vehicles will begin, and they will be accessible “in the years to come.”

Currently, everyday riders can’t take a Waymo vehicle on highways and freeways but that may soon change. As seen in an exclusive video shared with CNET in May, the company is testing fully autonomous rides on&nbsp, freeways in Phoenix. It’s also now making fully autonomous freeway rides available to Waymo employees in Los Angeles&nbsp, and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Waymo is attempting to expand its autonomous driving technology into trucking, but it announced last year that it is reducing those efforts for the time being to concentrate on ride-hailing with Waymo One. It noted,” Our ongoing investment in advancing Waymo Driver capabilities, especially on freeways, will directly translate to trucking and benefit its development efforts”.