Waymo and Uber Launch Autonomous Ride-Hailing in Atlanta

June 24, 2025 – 4:02 AM PDT

Uber Technologies is kicking off its autonomous ride-hailing service in Atlanta this Tuesday, collaborating with Waymo, a subsidiary of Alphabet. This initiative follows the service’s debut in Austin, Texas, earlier in March.

The partnership, which was revealed back in September 2024, will provide Waymo’s autonomous vehicles through the Uber app, covering an area of 65 square miles in Atlanta.

As the competition for robotaxis heats up, Waymo is ramping up its testing efforts. Recently, Tesla also launched limited trials of its autonomous taxi service in Austin, highlighting the growing interest in self-driving technology.

Currently, there are 100 Waymo vehicles available on the Uber platform in Austin, with plans for a substantial fleet in Atlanta. Uber is set to manage and dispatch a collection of fully autonomous Jaguar I-PACE vehicles, with ambitions to expand this to hundreds in the future.

Passengers using Waymo’s self-driving vehicles will pay similar rates to UberX, Uber Comfort, or Uber Comfort Electric, with no obligation to tip.

While Waymo’s vehicles operate entirely autonomously on highways in California and Arizona for employees, public services are not yet available. In Atlanta, the service will initially be limited to surface streets.

Last week, Waymo announced its plans to return to New York City next month for autonomous vehicle testing. They have submitted a request to the New York City Department of Transportation for permission to operate with a trained specialist at the wheel in Manhattan.

Looking ahead, Waymo announced in March its intentions to launch a fully autonomous ride-hailing service in Washington, D.C., next year.

Currently, Waymo maintains over 1,500 vehicles, facilitating more than 250,000 rides each week across cities including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Austin.

Uber divested its self-driving division in 2020 to streamline its operations and focus on its primary businesses, following a tragic incident in 2018 where a pedestrian was killed by a self-driving Uber vehicle.

The backup safety driver involved in that accident pleaded guilty in 2023 and received probation, as confirmed by prosecutors.