Waymo Partners with Lyft to Provide Autonomous Rides in Nashville, Tennessee

Waymo has announced plans to introduce robotaxi services to Nashville, Tennessee in 2026 in partnership with Lyft. According to Reuters, Waymo’s autonomous rides in Nashville will initially be offered via the Waymo App. Riders will be able to access Waymo driverless taxis from the Lyft app as the service expands. Lyft stock soared 17% on September 17, 2025 following news of Waymo-Lyft partnership in Nashville.

First Deployment on Lyft Network

Waymo’s partnership with Lyft to bring driverless taxis to Nashville is the first commercial deployment of Waymo’s robotaxis on the Lyft ride-hailing network. Although Nashville is the only city where Lyft is collaborating with Waymo, having the company’s robotaxis on its app will boost Lyft’s business recovery after the 2020 pandemic reduced demand for rides.

Uber recovered faster with financial results showing that its value has tripled since 2019.
Waymo and Lyft collaborated in 2019 during robotaxi testing in Phoenix. At the time, Waymo provided a limited number of rides via Lyft. The collaboration ended when Waymo completed the tests and started offering driverless rides to passengers on its own app over five years ago.

The collaboration with Lyft will see Waymo invest in an autonomous vehicle fleet-management facility to facilitate charging and maintenance of Waymo vehicles. The company did not disclose how much it will invest in the facility. By leveraging Lyft services, the company is expected to maximize Waymo autonomous rides cost and safety. Waymo plans to grow its Nashville fleet to hundreds of robotaxis over time.

Waymo’s Gradual Expansion

With a fleet of about 2,000 vehicles, Waymo is the largest provider of paid robotaxi service in the U.S. A report by Wells Fargo projected that Waymo could capture 10% of the U.S. rideshare trips over the next five years.

The company’s partnership with Lyft effectively places Waymo robotaxis on the two dominant ride-hailing services in the U.S. Waymo robotaxis are available on the Uber app in Atlanta and Austin where the company already provides driverless taxi services. Waymo also operates paid driverless rides in San Francisco, Phoenix, and Los Angeles.

In 2024, the company raised $5.6 billion in a series C funding. At the time, Waymo planned to expand its Waymo-One rideshare services to other U.S. cities including Miami, Atlanta, and Austin in partnership with Uber. Most recently, the autonomous vehicle technology firm has announced plans to expand to Dallas, Texas in partnership with Avis. In this partnership. Avis will handle fleet maintenance in the city. The autonomous vehicle company also plans to expand operations to Washington D.C, Miami, and Denver. Recently, Waymo got a permit to start testing driverless vehicles in New York City with a trained specialist in the car.

Growing Competition

Waymo has been offering paid autonomous rides since 2020. As it expands operations in the U.S, it faces competition from players like Tesla and Amazon’s Zoox. Early this year, Tesla commenced Model Y tests in Austin Texas back in May 2025 and rolled out a limited number of robotaxis in June 2025 that picked paying passengers in the city.

Earlier this month, Amazon’s Zoox robotaxi service launched in Las Vegas. The company has been testing 50 robotaxis in Las Vegas and San Francisco. Zoox plans to expand autonomous rides across Las Vegas in the coming months after it gets regulatory approval.

Besides the growing competition, technical hitches like software malfunction could also affect Waymo’s expansion plan. In May 2025, the company recalled 1200 driverless vehicles after its automated driving software malfunctioned, causing some of its robotaxis to collide with barriers on roadways.