At launch, Waymo’s automobiles might be accessible solely on the Uber app in Atlanta. The 2 firms first introduced a deal to place Waymo’s robotaxis on the Uber app back in 2023, indicating that Austin could be first, adopted by Atlanta. Waymo’s personal ridehail app, Waymo One, is not going to be operational in Atlanta; prospects who open Waymo One might be redirected to Uber’s app.
Waymo’s automobiles will solely function inside a 65-square-mile service space that features Atlanta’s Downtown, Buckhead, and Capitol View neighborhoods. The automobiles don’t drive on highways but, nor will they make journeys to the airport. One other factor to think about: merely calling an Uber in Waymo’s service space doesn’t assure a robotaxi will present up. Like in Austin, the businesses will begin with a small fleet of automobiles and develop from there.
Prospects can improve their possibilities of being matched with a Waymo car by opting into autonomous rides within the Journey Preferences part of their Uber app. The rides will value the identical as a typical UberX, Uber Consolation, or Uber Consolation Electrical trip. As soon as the Waymo car arrives, prospects can unlock the door, open the trunk, and begin the trip from the Uber app. Rides can be began by urgent the button on the rear touchscreen within the car.
Uber will handle fleet providers, together with car cleansing, upkeep, inspections, EV charging, and depot operations. The corporate is contracting with Avmo (previously Moove Automobiles) to deal with these duties. Waymo continues to be accountable for car testing, roadside help, and sure parts of rider help. The businesses will clearly share within the prices and the income produced by the robotaxi service, although each firms have declined to share the break up.
Uber and Waymo, former rivals turned unlikely companions, have stated they may work collectively to get extra folks to make use of driverless automobiles. However the partnership isn’t unique; Uber is also working with over a dozen other autonomous mobility companies, together with sidewalk robotic operators for its Uber Eats enterprise. The corporate says it has shortly grown to an annual run fee of 1.5 million robotaxi and supply robotic journeys on its community.
Whereas many Atlanta residents might be experiencing a driverless automobile for the primary time, Waymo isn’t new to town. The corporate first began gathering mapping knowledge and manually testing its automobiles in Atlanta back in 2018. Absolutely driverless testing began in January 2025, adopted by early passenger journeys in Might 2025.
For these retaining rating, there have been roughly 283 days between figuring out Atlanta as a future robotaxi metropolis and launching the service on the Uber app.
Waymo’s success relies upon partly on narrowing that window for future cities in an effort to show its scalability, whereas keeping an eye on safety. Waymo presently conducts roughly 250,000 rides every week in its 4 important markets. The corporate has additionally stated it is going to launch in Miami and Washington, DC with its personal Waymo One app.