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is transportation editor with 10+ years of experience who covers EVs, public transportation, and aviation. His work has appeared in The New York Daily News and City & State.
Waymo is bringing its robotaxis to Music City, USA.
The Alphabet-owned company plans on launching its robotaxi service in Nashville in 2026. Customers will be able to hail a ride initially through the Waymo One app, and then later through the Lyft app. Lyft will also handle fleet services, such as cleaning, maintenance, and EV charging.
Waymo arrived in Nashville earlier this year as part of its annual “road trip,” in which the company operates its vehicles manually in various cities to collect data on varying weather conditions and regional driving habits. Waymo says it will shift into autonomous testing later this year, followed by the launch of a commercial robotaxi service in 2026.
The partnership with Lyft is an interesting wrinkle to this news. The two companies worked together briefly in Phoenix in 2019. Lyft customers were able to hail rides in Waymo vehicles for a short period. Waymo then shifted to teaming up with Uber as its ridehail platform of choice in two cities: Austin and Atlanta. Today’s news signals that Lyft is still in running for future collaborations.
Lyft says it will use its Flexdrive system, which provides “end-to-end fleet management, including vehicle maintenance, infrastructure, and depot operations,” to manage of Waymo’s robotaxis in Nashville. And the ridehail company will build a fleet management facility in Nashville for Waymo’s robotaxis, including EV charging.
In addition to Nashville, Waymo has said it will launch commercial operations in Washington, DC, Miami, Denver, Seattle, Dallas, and New York City.
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