The self-driving taxi company Waymo is working with Lyft to expand its services to Nashville, Tennessee.
Waymo said Wednesday that its rides will be available to the public in Nashville in 2026 through the Waymo and Lyft apps. The company is launching fully autonomous operations in the city in the coming months, it said.
Lyft shares surged more than 10% Wednesday as the partnership reassured investors that it was not going to be left behind as more people start using driverless taxis.
Waymo’s white retrofitted Jaguars are already a common sight in Los Angeles, where they’ve been transporting paying customers since late 2024.
The Waymo service area in Los Angeles currently covers more than 120 square miles from Santa Monica to downtown and surrounding neighborhoods.
“We’re delighted to partner with Lyft and launch in Nashville next year, as we continue to scale our Waymo ride-hailing service to more people in more places,” said Waymo co-chief executive Tekedra Mawakana in a statement.
Waymo got its start as the Google Self-Driving Car Project, which began in 2009 and put its first autonomous car on the road in 2015.
The project rebranded as Waymo in 2016 under Google’s parent company Alphabet and launched its driverless ride-hailing service known as Waymo One in 2020.
Along with Los Angeles, the taxis are available to the public in San Francisco, Phoenix, Atlanta, and Austin. The company said rides are coming soon to Miami and Washington, D.C.
Waymo faces competition from Amazon’s robotaxi effort dubbed Zoox, which is developing pill-shaped vehicles with no steering wheel or pedals.
Tesla is also in the race to scale autonomous technology with its robotaxi service, which launched in Austin in June and has faced several hiccups.
Waymo did not disclose details on its service area in Nashville. The southeastern city is renowned for its live music and attracts large crowds of tourists.
The company said its autonomous driving technology has become “even more capable” and completes hundreds of thousands of rides each week.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee said he supports bringing the tech to the state.
“As families and businesses move to Tennessee in record numbers, our state continues to lead the nation in finding innovative solutions to transportation challenges,” he said.
