Waymo has poached human safety drivers from its self-driving test fleet in Nashville as the Alphabet-owned company moves closer to launching its robotaxi service in the city.
Waymo has been testing it in Nashville for several months and plans to partner with Lyft to launch a robotaxi service there this year. Riders initially call for a ride directly through the Waymo app. As the service expands, Waymo also plans to make self-driving cars available through the Lyft app. Lyft announced that fleet services such as vehicle preparation and maintenance, charging infrastructure, and warehouse operations will be handled through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Flexdrive.
Waymo has accelerated its robotaxi expansion and now operates commercial services in Atlanta, Austin, Los Angeles, Miami, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Phoenix. The company also has unmanned test vehicles in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and Orlando.
The company tends to follow the same expansion strategy in every new market, starting with a small number of manually driven vehicles to map cities. The self-driving car will then be tested with a human safety operator in the driver’s seat. Ultimately, the company will conduct driverless tests before launching its robotaxi service, often allowing employees to hail rides.
