Waymo robotaxis are now operating in 10 US cities
Source: TechCrunch
New Service Launch
Waymo is opening its robotaxi services to the public in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and Orlando. Select riders who have downloaded the Waymo app will receive an invitation to take their first rides, starting Tuesday. New riders will be added on a rolling basis, and eventually anyone who downloads the app will be able to hail a ride.
Expansion Timeline
Waymo’s rollout will mimic its public launches in previous cities.
Last February, Waymo was operating commercial robotaxi services in Phoenix and surrounding suburbs, parts of Los Angeles, and San Francisco. At that time, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said Waymo was providing more than 200,000 rides every week (https://techcrunch.com/2025/02/27/waymo-has-doubled-its-weekly-robotaxi-rides-in-less-than-a-year/).
Over the past 12 months, Waymo has expanded in its existing markets, particularly in San Francisco, where its service area now stretches down Highway 101 through numerous towns, all the way to San Jose (https://support.google.com/waymo/answer/9059119?hl=en). It now has access to three airports, including San Francisco International (https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/29/waymo-sfo-airport-robotaxis/).
Waymo has also launched a service in partnership with Uber in Atlanta and Austin (https://techcrunch.com/2025/03/04/uber-users-in-austin-are-getting-matched-with-waymo-robotaxis/), expanded its operating domain to freeways in three cities (https://techcrunch.com/2025/11/12/waymo-robotaxis-are-now-giving-rides-on-freeways-in-these-3-cities/), and opened its robotaxi service to the public in Miami (https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/22/waymo-continues-robotaxi-ramp-up-with-miami-service-now-open-to-public/).
Waymo tends to hold back on its latest ridership numbers. The last update indicated the company was providing more than 400,000 rides per week (https://waymo.com/blog/2026/02/waymo-raises-usd16-billion-investment-round), though the actual figure is likely higher now.
Current Fleet and Operations
Waymo currently has a fleet of about 3,000 robotaxis spread across its six markets:
- Atlanta
- Austin
- Los Angeles
- Miami
- Phoenix
- San Francisco Bay Area
The fleet size will likely grow with the addition of the four new cities, though a rapid ballooning is not expected.
Workforce
Waymo’s staff who monitor the robotaxis and respond to specific requests from the self‑driving system—known as remote assistance workers (RAs)—may expand as the service scales. The company has disclosed that it employs about 70 RAs and follows an extensive planning process to ensure operations are right‑sized for growth.
Future Plans and Funding
Waymo is planning to launch robotaxi services in several more cities this year, including Denver, London, and Washington, D.C. among others. The company recently raised an additional $16 billion in a round led by Dragoneer Investment Group, DST Global, and Sequoia Capital, valuing Waymo at $126 billion (https://techcrunch.com/2026/02/02/waymo-raises-16-billion-round-to-scale-robotaxi-fleet-london-tokyo/).
Regulatory and Safety Investigations
Waymo’s expansion occurs amid heightened scrutiny from safety regulators:
- The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened an investigation after a Waymo robotaxi struck a child at 6 mph near a school in Santa Monica (https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/29/waymo-robotaxi-hits-a-child-near-an-elementary-school-in-santa-monica/).
- The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is examining how Waymo robotaxis behave around school buses (https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/23/waymo-probed-by-national-transportation-safety-board-over-illegal-school-bus-behavior/).
Waymo co‑CEO Tekedra Mawakana has said the company is on track to serve more than one million rides per week by the end of the year and is laying the groundwork for robotaxi service in more than 20 cities.