Waymo has removed human safety drivers from its autonomous test vehicles in Nashville, as the Alphabet-owned company moves closer to launching robotaxi service in the city.
Waymo, which has been testing in Nashville for several months, is scheduled to launch a robotaxi service there this year. Partnership with Lyft. Riders will initially receive rides directly through the Waymo app. Once the service expands, Waymo will also make its self-driving vehicles available through the Lyft app. Lyft has said it will handle fleet services such as vehicle preparation and maintenance, charging infrastructure and depot operations through its wholly owned subsidiary Flexdrive.
Waymo has accelerated its robotaxi expansion and today operates commercial services in Atlanta, Austin, Los Angeles, Miami, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Phoenix. It also has driverless test fleets in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Orlando.
The company follows the same rollout strategy in every new market, starting with a small fleet of vehicles that are manually operated to map the city. Autonomous vehicles are then tested with a human safety operator in the driver’s seat. After all, the company conducts driverless tests before launching robotaxi service, often allowing employees to take rides.
