Waymo is testing driverless robotaxis in Nashville

Waymo has removed human safety drivers from its autonomous test vehicles in Nashville as it advances toward launching a robotaxi service in the city later in 2026. The company has been testing in Nashville for several months and plans to initially offer rides through the Waymo app, with future integration into the Lyft app. Lyft, via its subsidiary Flexdrive, will manage fleet operations including vehicle maintenance, charging, and depot services. Waymo is rapidly expanding its robotaxi services, currently operating commercially in cities like Atlanta, Austin, Los Angeles, Miami, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Phoenix, while maintaining driverless test fleets in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and Orlando. Its typical rollout strategy involves manually mapping the city with a small fleet, followed by autonomous testing with safety drivers, then driverless testing often limited to employees before launching full robotaxi services to the public.