Uber shifted into a new gear in Austin on Tuesday, March 4 when its ride-hailing service began dispatching self-driving cars to pick up passengers.
The autonomous option is being provided through a partnership that brings together Uber and robotaxi pioneer Waymo, which already sells self-driving vehicle rides through its own app in Phoenix, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Waymo is now trying to expand into more cities by teaming up with Uber — an alliance that was announced last September.
The partnership begins in Austin and will, later this year, expand to offer robotaxi rides in Atlanta.
Waymo's robotaxis will be hitting the streets of Austin ahead of Tesla CEO Elon Musk's goal of launching a fleet of electric self-driving cars later this year.
Uber's network of human-driven cars will continue to give rides in Austin, too, but tapping into Waymo's robotaxis will give it another selling point that could be popular among passengers eager to try out a cutting-edge technology.
“With Waymo’s technology and Uber’s proven platform, we’re ready to bring you the ride of the future, today,” Uber crowed about the robotaxis coming to Austin.
Uber's longtime rival, Lyft, is also planning to add robotaxis to its network in Atlanta later this year as part of a partnership with May Mobility and hopes to begin deploying self-driving cars in Dallas as next year. Uber also has joined forces with Avride to begin dispatching robotaxis in Dallas next year.
Although there is no way passengers can guarantee that a ride ordered through Uber's app in Austin will be provided by one of Waymo's robotaxis, they can increase their chances of getting a self-driven car by going into their settings and turning on the autonomous vehicle preference.
When it sends a Waymo car to pick up a passenger, Uber's app will send a notification that the ride will be provided by a self-driving car while also offering the option to switch to a human-controlled vehicle instead.
Originally started as a secret project within Google, Waymo has been making major inroads since its robotaxis first began charging for rides in Phoenix nearly five years ago. Waymo's robotaxis are now averaging 200,000 paid rides per week, up from about 10,000 weekly rides two years ago, according to a recent post by Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, who runs the Mountain View, California, company that owns Google as well as Waymo.
After expanding into Austin and Atlanta this year as part of the Uber partnership, Waymo also plans to begin offering rides in Miami next year through its own app, mirroring how it already runs its service in Phoenix, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Waymo, so far, has avoided a major traffic accident or other safety problems that might give regulators second thoughts about allowing its robotaxis to remain on the road.
Automaker General Motors tried to compete against Waymo in San Francisco with a robotaxi service operated by its Cruise subsidiary, but had its California license suspended in October 2023 after one of its self-driving cars dragged an injured pedestrian about 20 feet before coming to a stop.
Uber also struck a deal last year to eventually deploy Cruise's robotaxis in cities that were never identified before General Motors pulled the plug on its fleet of self-driving cars.
