Waymo has just announced that it will expand its autonomous driving technology to Miami, joining Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Austin, where the robotaxis have already taken over the streets (kidding!).
Beginning in early 2025, Waymo’s all-electric Jaguar I-PACEs will be redeployed around Miami, building on previous road trips throughout Florida that were carried out during the rainy season to enhance driving capabilities. They aim to begin accepting rides in 2026, offering a driverless ride-hailing service via the Waymo One app.
Waymo (owned by Google’s parent company Alphabet) has partnered with Moove, a global leader in innovative mobility solutions, to manage its fleet operations, facilities and charging infrastructure. “Ride-hailing has transformed urban mobility over the past 15 years, yet the core experience has largely remained unchanged,” says Ladi Delano, co-founder and co-CEO at Moove. “Together, we’re driving a major shift.”
So, how do Waymo’s robotaxis work? Last year, we got to go for a ride in a Waymo car during the launch of the Waymo One Tour program in Santa Monica and Venice—and we’ve been (mostly) impressed ever since.
“Riding in a self-driving car for the first time is anxiety-inducing, exciting and oddly normal—basically in that order,” wrote our Los Angeles and Western USA editor Michael Juliano at the time. “Even if you routinely drive a car outfitted with advanced assistance features, it can’t prepare you for the radically different sensation of sitting in the back seat of a car with nobody in the driver’s seat. Even the outside of the white Jaguar I-PACE feels strange; it’s impossible to miss the spinning lidar unit on the roof as well as the array of cameras and radar sensors (which collectively let it see 360 degrees for roughly the length of three football fields).”
We all have our thoughts on the hellscape that is driving in Miami. According to Waymo’s own data, the service is an extremely safe alternative to conventional ride-shares: “The Waymo Driver has a large, statistically significant, reduction in airbag deployment, any-injury-reported, and police-reported crash rate compared to the human benchmark,” their website touts. Who would you trust more to treat you like the precious cargo you are: a Miami driver or a robot? Soon, you’ll be able to find out.