Lyft has begun offering Waymo robotaxi rides through its app in Nashville, Tennessee, marking the first US market where Waymo vehicles can be booked through both companies’ platforms.
Riders in parts of central Nashville can now be matched with a fully autonomous Waymo vehicle through Lyft at no additional cost. The service is being rolled out gradually, with riders able to decline an autonomous vehicle and request a human-driven ride instead.
“Nashville riders have been quick to embrace autonomous vehicles as part of how they get around the city,” said Sid Patil, Head of Rideshare at Lyft. “Adding Waymo vehicles to our marketplace is a natural fit.”
Lyft is also providing the infrastructure behind the service. Its Flexdrive subsidiary is managing Waymo’s fleet in Nashville and will open an 80,000-square-foot depot in the city next month, with more than 70 new full-time roles planned.
The partnership gives Waymo access to Lyft’s established ride-hailing network while allowing Lyft to add autonomous vehicles without developing the underlying driving technology itself.
That approach differs in London, where Freenow by Lyft is working with a direct Waymo rival.
Freenow is trialling autonomous vehicles with Baidu’s Apollo Go unit. Baidu’s sixth-generation RT6 robotaxis began testing on London roads in July with safety operators on board, initially in Brent. Public rides are targeted for 2027, subject to regulatory approval.
Waymo is also running its own autonomous driving tests in London. The Alphabet-owned company began testing with safety drivers in April and is targeting a commercial launch in the capital.
Unlike in Nashville, where Waymo’s vehicles are now integrated into Lyft’s platform, Waymo’s London operation has no involvement from Lyft.
Thomas Zimmermann, Chief Executive of Freenow by Lyft, told Zag Daily that Apollo Go brings a “proven, globally scaled L4 system with hundreds of millions of kilometres of driverless experience” built specifically for ride-hailing.
Lyft’s commissioned research found that 58% of Londoners would be willing to ride in an autonomous vehicle.
The different partnerships reflect a broader trend among ride-hailing companies towards working with multiple autonomous vehicle developers rather than committing to a single technology provider.
Uber has taken this approach further, partnering with more than 30 autonomous vehicle companies over the past two years, including Waymo, WeRide, Pony.ai, Wayve, Zoox and Motional. Its European robotaxi service in Zagreb, for example, uses Pony.ai’s autonomous driving technology and Verne’s fleet, while WeRide is being rolled out through Uber’s platform in Madrid and Zurich.
For Lyft, the Nashville launch shows how the company can put a third-party autonomous fleet onto its network while retaining the human-driven vehicles that make up most of its marketplace.
