Waymo robotaxis go public
Waymo’s fully autonomous robotaxis opened to the general public in Miami and Orlando this week, with the service able to handle highway driving and hails via the app immediately. (x.com) That rollout means residents and visitors in both cities can book driverless trips now rather than wait for a limited pilot. (x.com)
Waymo opened its driverless taxi service to the general public in Miami and Orlando on April 15, letting anyone book a ride in its app right away. (waymo.com) The change ends the limited-access phase that Waymo started in Miami on January 22 and in Orlando on February 24, when rides were offered first to selected app users and then expanded in waves. Waymo said more than 150,000 riders from its initial interest list in the two cities used the service over the past few months. (waymo.com 1) (waymo.com 2) (waymo.com 3) In Miami, Waymo is also starting to add highway trips, including routes that local outlets said can use Interstate 95, State Road 836 and State Road 826. In Orlando, the service is public now too, but local coverage said it still does not use freeways, does not reach Orlando International Airport, and does not travel east of Interstate 4 in downtown. (waymo.com) (nbcmiami.com) (mynews13.com) Waymo’s service works like a regular ride-hailing app: a rider orders a car, unlocks it through the app, and rides without a human in the driver’s seat. On its public FAQ page, Waymo says its fully autonomous service runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and that its vehicles currently seat up to four passengers. (waymo.com) Florida is part of a wider 2026 expansion. When Waymo opened Orlando with Dallas, Houston and San Antonio in February, the company said that move brought its commercial metro count to 10, while its FAQ now lists Miami, Orlando, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Metro Phoenix as cities where anyone can ride immediately. (waymo.com 1) (waymo.com 2) Waymo has been building toward Florida service for more than a year. It announced Miami plans in December 2024, began fully autonomous operations there in November 2025, and said Orlando would open to early public riders in 2026 before this week’s full public launch. (waymo.com 1) (waymo.com 2) (waymo.com 3) The company is pitching the expansion around scale and safety. Waymo said its driver has been involved in 92 percent fewer crashes causing serious or fatal injuries than human drivers in the same conditions, while Miami’s January launch post said the company had logged more than 127 million fully autonomous miles at that point. (waymo.com) (waymo.com) For riders in Florida, the practical shift is simple: Miami and Orlando are no longer waitlist markets. They are book-now cities in Waymo’s app, with Miami starting to add freeway trips and Orlando still operating on a more limited map. (waymo.com) (waymo.com)
