The fleet is now dispatched by both the Waymo and Lyft apps in Nashville. Credit: Lyft Waymo’s driverless cars can now be booked through the Lyft app in Nashville, making it the first market where the same autonomous fleet is available through two competing rideshare platforms. The service covers central Nashville, including Downtown and Broadway, North Nashville and Germantown, East Nashville, Midtown and South Nashville. Riders can choose Standard, Priority Pickup, Wait and Save, or Extra Comfort, with no additional charge for being matched with an autonomous vehicle.
Availability will expand over the coming weeks, with rides assigned dynamically across the two platforms. The way the two companies have divided the work is important. Waymo owns the vehicles and handles the driving technology. Lyft’s subsidiary Flexdrive manages the fleet and its local operations.
It is also opening an 80,000-square-foot depot in Nashville in October, creating more than 70 full-time jobs for technicians, operations leads, and service coordinators. The arrangement leaves each company responsible for a different part of the business. Waymo keeps the software, sensors and regulatory approvals, while Lyft handles the physical side of running the fleet, including cleaning, charging, inspections and repairs. “Adding Waymo vehicles to our marketplace is a natural fit,” said Sid Patil, Lyft’s head of rideshare. Nicole Gavel, senior director of business development at Waymo, said the partnership gives people in Nashville another way to use fully autonomous vehicles. “Nashville is a hub for travelers, event goers, and visitors, and our drivers here deliver a level of hospitality and service I’m incredibly proud of,” said Yuko Yamazaki, Head of Driver at Lyft.
Yuko Yamazaki, Lyft’s head of drivers, offered a more revealing view of what the partnership means for Lyft. “Demand in this city keeps climbing, and I believe we’re strongest in serving more riders when autonomous vehicles and human drivers grow side by side.” That is notable coming from the executive responsible for Lyft’s driver business, since the growth of robotaxis could eventually reduce the need for human drivers. Nashville is a deliberate choice for Waymo. It is a growing mid-sized city with a relatively compact downtown and a regulatory environment that is open to autonomous vehicles. Robotaxi companies have increasingly moved beyond the major cities where the technology first attracted attention and into markets where they can test whether the business works at a larger scale.
The move also fits with Waymo’s changing relationship with Uber. The two companies ended their partnership in Phoenix after nearly three years. Waymo is also ending its exclusivity with Uber in Austin and Atlanta and plans to launch its own app in those cities in 2028. Rather than depending on one rideshare company for customers, Waymo is adding multiple ways for people to book its cars.
Over time, that could reduce its reliance on any single partner. The expansion comes while the technology is still dealing with practical problems. Waymo recently paused service in five cities after its vehicles repeatedly drove into floodwater and a software update failed to solve the issue. That is part of a wider challenge for robotaxi operators.
The services are expanding quickly while dealing with problems that become harder to manage as the fleets grow. Bringing Waymo to another city and another app gives more people access to the technology, but it also increases the number of situations in which those problems can appear. The contrast with Europe is becoming clearer. London’s first robotaxi service, operated by Uber and Wayve, launched with a safety driver in every vehicle.
In Nashville, Waymo is offering fully driverless rides through two competing apps. The difference is largely regulatory, and Europe is currently moving more slowly.
