If you’ve seen a Waymo roaming about Dallas lately, you may have noticed something curious inside: a driver.
No longer, the autonomous robotaxi company says. Soon, according to a release, Waymo will begin fully autonomous operations in several new cities, including Dallas.
Autonomous operations will start in Miami on Tuesday, with Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Orlando starting in the “coming weeks,” the company said.
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First, autonomous rides will be offered to employees, with testing occurring downtown and in surrounding areas, including Love Field.
Then, autonomous rides will be opened to the public in 2026. Waymos are already available in Austin through the Uber app. Dallas, like Los Angeles and other cities, will use the dedicated Waymo app.
The local fleet will be managed by rental car company Avis, as announced this summer. Those people you may have seen in the driver’s seat of Waymos were part of efforts to familiarize the Waymo Driver, the company’s autonomous technology, with the city.
“We are excited that fully autonomous ride-hailing services are scheduled to begin in Dallas next year,” Dallas City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert said in July. “The Waymo and Avis partnership will offer an innovative, technology-based transportation option for our residents and visitors. We look forward to the launch of this new service.”
Waymo serves 250,000 paid trips and millions of miles per week, according to its July announcement.
In May, Uber announced plans to launch autonomous ride-hailing in Arlington, while Lyft announced robotaxis coming to Dallas in February.
Waymo has recently been in the news after one of its robotaxis ran over a neighborhood cat in San Francisco last month. Waymo acknowledged the incident, apologized and donated to a Bay Area animal rights organization in the cat’s honor.
The incident fanned the flames of autonomous driving skepticism and ignited calls for local Waymo bans. A February survey from AAA found that, while up year-over-year, only 13% of U.S. drivers would trust riding in an autonomous vehicle, and 61% were afraid to.
However, a study conducted by Waymo and published in the independent, peer-reviewed journal Traffic Injury Prevention, found Waymo caused significantly fewer accidents compared to human benchmarks.
The study evaluated 56.7 million miles of “rider-only” (driverless) Waymo rides, and found statistically significant reductions in the number of most crash types studied, and no disbenefits in any crash type.
The results included a 79% reduction in crashes where any injury was reported, an 81% reduction in air bag deployment events and a 92% reduction in pedestrian crashes with injuries.
Waymo has partnerships with several traffic advocacy organizations such as Dori Saves Lives and Mothers Against Drunk Driving, to advance a shared mission for road safety.
“Roadway safety for all Texans is quite simply one of the most important issues today. Autonomous vehicles hold the exciting promise of preventing deaths and injuries caused by behavioral factors, including impaired driving,” said Michael Daley, MADD Texas regional executive director.
“With each advancement in auto technology, more lives will be spared the horrible physical and emotional impact caused by impaired driving.”