Waymo, a leader in autonomous self-driving technology, has announced a partnership with Lyft to introduce its robotaxi service in Nashville next year. We’re thrilled that this powerful collaboration is a big deal for both companies, jointly and individually. Second, they are hungry to increase their share of the fast growing global market for autonomous ride-hailing services.
In turn, Lyft will begin to slowly add Waymo’s robotaxis to its platform. This new, world-first technology means riders will be able to conveniently summon their Waymo driver using the Waymo One app. Through this partnership, Nashville looks to make autonomous transportation more convenient and accessible to Nashville residents.
As it scales up, Waymo seems poised for a thrilling adventure! Next year, as they launch commercial operations in Nashville, Miami, Washington D.C., Dallas, and Denver. The company recently celebrated a milestone of surpassing 10 million paid trips in May, highlighting its growing user base and operational success.
Waymo is shoring up its first-mover lead in the U.S. market. It is under very strong pressure from Baidu’s Apollo Go service, particularly outside of China. Just today, Baidu announced its own partnership with Lyft to deploy driverless taxis in Europe next year. Baidu, the Chinese Google, is partnering with Uber to roll out self-driving cars in Asia and the Middle East. As a result, this partnership represents a huge, existential challenge to Waymo’s expansion plans.
Waymo is far from alone in the race for autonomous transportation in the U.S. Smaller players like Wayve, Nuro and May Mobility are developing driverless technology. Meanwhile, Tesla and Amazon’s Zoox are conducting limited tests separate from Waymo’s operations.
With autonomous vehicle testing rapidly catching on, Waymo’s autonomy strategy goes deeper than its operational capabilities. As part of the collaboration, Waymo will “provide end-to-end fleet management services including vehicle readiness and maintenance, infrastructure, and depot operations in Nashville.” This all-encompassing strategy seeks to provide the ideal customer experience and service execution right out of the gate for a great first impression.
It’s clear that Waymo is preparing to expand to new markets. At the same time, Lyft’s shares jumped 20% following the news of their new partnership. This shift signals the overwhelming confidence that investors have in autonomous shuttle services. On a bigger picture scale, it further highlights the strategic alignment between these two companies.