Waymo has opened its robotaxi service to the public in Miami, marking the company’s latest expansion as it continues to scale driverless ride-hailing across the United States.
Public Access Begins With Waitlist
Waymo said Thursday that the service will initially roll out to nearly 10,000 local residents who joined a waitlist. Access will be granted on a rolling basis.
Once approved, riders can hail a robotaxi within a 60-square-mile service area that includes neighborhoods such as the Design District, Wynwood, Brickell, and Coral Gables.
Waymo said it plans to extend service to Miami International Airport, though it did not provide a specific timeline beyond stating that the expansion is expected soon.
Testing And Phased Launch In Miami
Waymo has been operating in Miami for several months ahead of the commercial launch. The company first mapped the area, then tested its autonomous vehicles on public roads.
In November, Waymo removed safety operators from the vehicles. At that stage, the driverless service was limited to company employees.
The step-by-step rollout follows a strategy Waymo has used in other cities.
Expansion Pattern Across Cities
Waymo opened its robotaxi service to the general public in Phoenix in 2020. It later expanded to San Francisco and Los Angeles, before opening those services to all riders in 2024.
As service areas grew within those regions, including parts of the broader Bay Area and Silicon Valley, Waymo also launched in new markets.
In spring 2025, Waymo introduced robotaxi operations in partnership with Uber in Atlanta and Austin. The company also expanded coverage in existing cities to include freeway driving.
Plans For Further Growth
Waymo has outlined plans to bring its robotaxi service to nearly a dozen additional cities over the next year. The list includes Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Las Vegas, Nashville, London, San Diego, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.
The company has already begun testing in some of those locations using a mix of all-electric Jaguar I-Pace vehicles and newer Zeekr RT vans, which have been rebranded as Ojai.
Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana said during an interview at TechCrunch Disrupt last October that the company expects to reach one million trips per week by the end of 2026.
Operational Issues And Regulatory Scrutiny
Waymo’s expansion has not been without challenges. In cities such as San Francisco, residents have shared videos showing Waymo vehicles contributing to traffic congestion, including during a widespread power outage in December.
The growth has also drawn attention from federal regulators. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an initial investigation in October through its Office of Defects Investigation into how Waymo robotaxis operated around a stopped school bus in Atlanta.
School district officials in Austin have also reported similar concerns, sharing videos that show Waymo vehicles passing school buses while lights were flashing and stop signs were deployed.
Waymo issued a voluntary software recall intended to address the issue. More recent videos, however, show vehicles continuing to pass stopped school buses, raising questions about whether the problem has been fully resolved.
Featured image credits: Flickr
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