Waymo is turning its robotaxi experiment into a multi-city transportation network, adding four more U.S. markets to a service that already spans several of the country’s largest metro areas. The expansion signals that fully driverless rides are shifting from novelty to infrastructure, with the company now treating new cities less as pilots and more as repeatable deployments at scale.
As the Alphabet-owned operator layers fresh markets on top of its existing hubs, it is also widening who can ride, where trips can go, and how its technology plugs into local partners. The result is a clearer picture of what a mature autonomous ride-hail business could look like, and how quickly it might spread once the core technology and playbook are in place.
Waymo’s footprint before the latest expansion
Before opening four new markets, Waymo had already built a dense core of operations across the Sun Belt and West Coast. The company’s paid robotaxi service is active in the Phoenix metro area, the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Austin and Atlanta, giving it a mix of dense urban cores, suburban sprawl and freeway-heavy corridors to train and prove its systems. Reporting on the company’s growth notes that Waymo’s robotaxi service currently operates in the Austin, San Francisco Bay Area, Phoenix, Atlanta and Los Angeles markets, and that it has completed millions of rides in total since launching paid service in 2020, a scale that underpins its confidence in moving into new cities.
Those existing hubs are not static either, they are expanding in coverage and complexity. New services are being added across freeways in the San Francisco Bay Area, Phoenix and Los Angeles, where vehicles now handle longer, higher speed trips that connect neighborhoods and job centers rather than just downtown grids. Waymo has also broadened who can ride, after it announced in July that it would expand its age range for eligible riders and offer accounts to teens, a move that folds younger passengers into the same app-based experience adults already use. Together, these steps show a company that is treating its early markets as living laboratories for new features and policies, even as it prepares to replicate the model elsewhere.
The four new cities: Baltimore, Pittsburgh, St. Louis and Philadelphia
The latest milestone is Waymo’s decision to add four more U.S. cities to its driverless roster, a move that shifts the company from a regional player into a more national presence. On Wednesday, Waymo said it is driving in four new cities, naming Baltimore, Pittsburgh, St. Louis and Philadelphia as the next wave of markets where its vehicles will appear on public streets. The company framed the additions as part of a broader push to make its service available in a wider range of climates and road networks, rather than clustering only in the Southwest and California.
Early activity in these locations will not look identical, but the intent is the same: build toward fully autonomous ride-hail. In Baltimore, the company plans to work with local partners as it transitions from manual driving to supervised autonomy, while in St. Louis, Missouri, it is starting with manual driving this week as it maps and learns the city’s layout. Coverage from multiple reports underscores that Waymo is initially operating with test drivers in some of these new markets and has not announced a specific timeline for when fully driverless rides will be available, a reminder that each city still requires its own regulatory and technical ramp-up even within a repeatable playbook.
How the rollout works: from mapping runs to paid rides
Waymo’s expansion strategy follows a familiar arc, but the company is compressing that timeline as its technology matures. In each new city, it begins with human-driven mapping runs, then moves to supervised autonomous driving with safety operators behind the wheel, and finally removes those operators once the system has logged enough safe miles in local conditions. Based on the latest operational updates as of early December 2025, Waymo has already pulled human safety drivers from its vehicles in multiple Texas cities after a relatively quick test period, showing that it can move from initial deployment to fully autonomous operation in complex urban environments faster than skeptics expected.
The company’s own communications describe how it is “delivering more for our riders in a year of incredible growth,” highlighting that people in cities across the country are trusting Waymo for life’s everyday trips, from commutes to grocery runs. On its official site, Waymo outlines a clear pipeline of “Up Next” markets, listing Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston and Las Vegas among the cities where it is preparing to launch, which suggests that the four new driverless markets are part of a broader, staged rollout rather than isolated experiments. That same roadmap also points to future international hubs, including London, which indicates that the operational playbook being refined in U.S. cities is intended to travel overseas as well.
Texas and Florida: proving the model can scale
Texas and Florida have become critical proving grounds for Waymo’s claim that its robotaxis can scale quickly once the regulatory path is clear. The company has been gearing up to expand its paid robotaxis service in 2026, saying it will launch in more Texas and Florida cities after building experience in earlier markets. It has already committed to operating in additional Texas hubs such as Dallas, Houston and San Antonio, as well as Florida destinations like Miami and Orlando, positioning those states as early beneficiaries of the next wave of deployments. Company leaders have described this as a deliberate strategy to cluster operations where weather, infrastructure and policy are conducive to rapid scaling.
Operational data from Texas has become a centerpiece of Waymo’s argument that its technology is not limited to a handful of carefully curated neighborhoods. Based on the latest operational updates as of early December 2025, Waymo has pulled human safety drivers from its vehicles in multiple Texas cities and is now operating fully autonomously in these complex urban environments, a shift that directly addresses critics who argued the service could not scale beyond its original Phoenix footprint. At the same time, the company has signaled that it will extend its network to additional U.S. markets such as San Diego, Washington, D.C. and London in 2026, reinforcing the idea that Texas and Florida are stepping stones in a much larger expansion plan rather than endpoints.
Inside the four-city push: what changes for riders
For riders, the addition of four new cities is less about the novelty of a driverless car and more about whether the service feels like a reliable alternative to owning or driving a vehicle. Waymo currently offers fully autonomous rides to the general public in Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Austin, where riders can hail a car through the Waymo app and watch it navigate everything from neighborhood streets to busy arterials. Coverage of the new four-city push notes that the same basic experience will carry over, with vehicles handling trips across downtowns and freeways once regulators sign off, and with pricing that is designed to be competitive with services like Uber and Lyft.
In-depth explainers on the service emphasize how Waymo’s vehicles manage complex scenarios, from unprotected left turns to lane changes on multi-lane freeways, and how the company communicates with riders through in-car displays and audio prompts. One detailed overview by Abrar Al-Heeti describes how self-driving cars are slowly becoming less science fiction and more everyday transportation, highlighting Waymo’s role in that shift and explaining how riders can monitor the vehicle’s planned route on screen. As the four new cities come online, I expect the company to lean heavily on that same user experience, using consistent app flows and in-car interfaces to make the service feel familiar even as the street names change.
Competition and the global race for robotaxis
Waymo’s expansion is unfolding in a crowded field where Amazon’s Zoox, Tesla and other players are racing to define what robotaxis look like at scale. Reporting on the broader market notes that Waymo is plotting global expansion as Zoox and Tesla roll to the starting line, with each company taking a different approach to vehicle design, deployment and business models. Waymo’s decision to focus on a mix of U.S. cities and a first overseas service region, while others experiment with custom shuttles or software-only offerings, underscores how unsettled the competitive landscape remains even as the technology matures.
At the same time, Waymo is signaling that it sees its current U.S. network as a springboard to international hubs. The company has highlighted that it already operates in cities like Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Austin, and that it is preparing to launch in global hubs like London and Tokyo, which would mark Waymo’s first overseas service region. An Instagram post promoting the four new U.S. cities also notes that Waymo already operates in several American metros and is eyeing international hubs like London and Tokyo, tying the domestic rollout directly to a global narrative. That framing suggests that the four-city expansion is as much about demonstrating repeatability to regulators abroad as it is about capturing riders at home.
Partnerships, platforms and the Dallas test case
Waymo’s growth is not just geographic, it is also about how the company plugs into local ecosystems and partners. In some markets, Waymo leans on ride-hail platforms like Uber to reach riders, while in others it is building a more vertically integrated model. A recent partnership in Dallas illustrates this shift: in a multiyear deal, Avis Budget Group will serve as the exclusive fleet management provider for Waymo’s Dallas rollout, handling depot operations and vehicle maintenance as the company brings its autonomous vehicle service to the city in 2026. Unlike in other markets where Waymo leans on Uber, Dallas riders will book directly through Waymo’s own app, signaling a strategic move to own more of the customer relationship in certain cities.
That Dallas partnership sits alongside a broader list of “Up Next” markets on Waymo’s official site, where the company highlights Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston and Las Vegas as upcoming locations for its service. The same roadmap points to future operations in Miami, Nashville and Orlando, as well as international hubs like London, which together paint a picture of a company that is thinking in terms of network effects rather than one-off launches. As Waymo taps partners like Avis for fleet management and experiments with different booking channels, it is effectively running A/B tests on what operational model best supports a large-scale robotaxi network.
Regulation, safety and the ‘can’t scale’ argument
Every new city forces Waymo to revisit the core questions of safety, regulation and public trust, and the four-city expansion is no exception. Critics have long argued that autonomous vehicles might work in a handful of sunny, well-mapped neighborhoods but would struggle to handle the messy reality of diverse urban environments. Waymo has responded by pointing to its performance in places like Phoenix, San Francisco and Los Angeles, where it now runs fully autonomous rides for the general public, and by highlighting that it has removed human safety drivers in multiple Texas cities after a relatively short test period. Those operational milestones are central to the company’s claim that it has effectively shut down the “can’t scale” argument.
Waymo’s own blog underscores that message, with posts describing how it is “delivering more for our riders in a year of incredible growth” and how people in cities across the country are trusting Waymo for everyday trips. A separate update on the Waypoint section of the blog notes that the company is thrilled to launch new services and expand coverage in existing markets, framing each regulatory approval as part of a broader trajectory rather than a standalone victory. As the four new cities come online, I expect regulators to scrutinize incident data and safety reports closely, but Waymo’s track record in Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Austin gives it a substantial body of evidence to point to in those conversations.
What comes next: 2026 and beyond
The four-city expansion lands just as Waymo is preparing for an even more ambitious 2026. The company has said it will launch in more Texas and Florida cities in 2026, building on its existing presence and the operational lessons learned from early deployments. It has also indicated that it will extend its network to additional U.S. markets such as San Diego and Washington, D.C., and that it is planning its first overseas service region in London, which would mark a significant step in turning its U.S. playbook into a global template. Those plans suggest that the current wave of new cities is a midpoint rather than a capstone in Waymo’s growth curve.
At the same time, Waymo is continuing to refine the rider experience and expand who can use the service. In July, the company announced that it would expand its age range for eligible riders, offering accounts to teens and integrating them into the same app-based ecosystem adults already use. Detailed explainers on the service note that riders can hail a trip in the San Francisco Bay Area, Phoenix and Los Angeles, including downtown and freeways, and that Waymo has experimented with an Uber partnership in San Francisco to reach more users. As the company adds Baltimore, Pittsburgh, St. Louis and Philadelphia to its roster, and prepares for launches in Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Las Vegas, Miami, Nashville, Orlando, San Diego, Washington, D.C. and London, the question is less whether robotaxis will be available and more how quickly they will become a routine part of urban mobility.
Why these four cities matter for the broader AV story
The choice of Baltimore, Pittsburgh, St. Louis and Philadelphia is not random, it is a deliberate test of how Waymo’s technology and operations handle a wider range of conditions. Pittsburgh brings steep hills, bridges and winter weather into the mix, while Baltimore and Philadelphia add dense East Coast traffic patterns and older street grids that differ sharply from the wide arterials of Phoenix or Los Angeles. St. Louis, Missouri, offers a Midwestern test bed with a mix of downtown, suburban and industrial zones, giving Waymo another lens on how its vehicles perform outside the coastal and Sun Belt markets that have dominated early deployments. By moving into these cities, Waymo is effectively stress-testing its claim that its system can generalize across very different urban fabrics.
Coverage of the rollout notes that in both Baltimore and St. Louis, Waymo is starting with manual driving as it maps and learns the cities, and that it has not yet announced a specific timeline for when fully driverless rides will be available. An Instagram post promoting the expansion captures the company’s tone, saying “We’re making our list and checking it twice, Waymo’s heading to four new cities: Baltimore, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and St. Louis,” and adding that Waymo already operates in cities like Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Austin while eyeing international hubs like London and Tokyo. Taken together, those details show a company that is using the four new cities not just to add pins on a map, but to demonstrate that its driverless playbook can handle the full diversity of American streets on the way to a global network.
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