Waymo Launches Regular Robotaxi Service in Miami

Waymo is opening its self-driving taxis in Miami to regular customers. The Alphabet subsidiary has already been testing in the Florida metropolis since last year.

The robotaxis will operate in a 155-square-kilometer area, stretching from the Design District and Wynwood to Brickell and Coral Gables. It is planned to extend this to Miami International Airport, Waymo announced. According to reports, nearly 10.000 users have already registered in the city.

Miami is the sixth city in the USA where Waymo is regularly offering its services with robotaxis, following the greater San Francisco and Los Angeles areas, Phoenix, Austin, and Atlanta. This solidifies Waymo's leading position against Tesla and Amazon's subsidiary Zoox. Tesla has recently been allowed to operate its robotaxis in Austin without safety drivers on board.

2500 Waymo Robotaxis

Waymo's fleet of autonomous taxis now comprises around 2500 vehicles, which are booked approximately 200,000 times a week. The Alphabet subsidiary plans to expand its service to ten more US cities this year, including the capital Washington D.C. Testing is underway in a number of other cities, including New York. The company is also expanding abroad: first to London, and later to Tokyo.

Waymo relies on significantly more sophisticated sensor technology than Tesla: the US electric car manufacturer equips its vehicles with only cameras for the Full Self-Driving system (FSD). Waymo, on the other hand, also installs radar and lidar. If Tesla's FSD system proves to be on par with Waymo's, Tesla will have a cost advantage. However, the FSD, which only uses cameras, has caused accidents in the past. Yet, Waymo's system is not entirely error-free either.

(wpl)