Waymo to Offer Self-Driving Cars Through Uber in Austin and Atlanta

"Waymo, the self-driving car company owned by Google's parent, Alphabet, plans to use the Uber app to offer paid rides in Atlanta and Austin, Texas, next year.

Waymo won't operate its own app in those cities. Uber Technologies' riders in the two cities might be matched to a Waymo driverless taxi even if they don't specifically request one, the companies said Friday.

As part of the deal, Uber will provide vehicle cleaning, repair and general storage facilities.

The two companies previously teamed up to bring Waymo cars to Uber riders in the Phoenix metro area, but Waymo also operates its own app there.

Uber and Lyft have doubled down on signing deals with driverless-car developers after the newfound adoption of the technology. 

Waymo says it is handling more than 100,000 paid rides a week across San Francisco, Los Angeles and the Phoenix area.

Cruise, another self-driving car startup, was previously handling paid rides in San Francisco until its permit was suspended in the wake of a safety incident with a pedestrian last fall. The company has said it plans to resume operations eventually.

Uber said last month it would work with Cruise. Lyft has expanded a 2020 partnership with the autonomous car developer Motional.

The ride-hailing leaders have sought to play up the adoption of the technology as a win-win for both sides.

By deploying driverless taxis on their apps, Uber and Lyft stand to gain by receiving a cut of Waymo's and Cruise's bookings. The robotaxi companies stand to benefit by reaching the ride-sharing companies' tens of millions of customers without the additional costs of building and scaling their own taxi platforms.

Uber's co-founder Travis Kalanick once plowed millions of dollars into developing self-driving cars, believing such a step would steer a company that relies heavily on human drivers toward growth.

Uber and Lyft shelved that ambition during the pandemic, saying they would instead become the platforms on which the technology developed by others would operate." [1]

1.  EXCHANGE --- Waymo to Offer Self-Driving Cars Through Uber in Austin and Atlanta. Rana, Preetika; Bobrowsky, Meghan.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 14 Sep 2024: B.9.