Waymo's driverless taxis now picking up riders in Tampa

In Tampa, the driver’s seat is officially empty.

Waymo began offering fully autonomous rides in Tampa on Tuesday, opening its robotaxi service to members of the public after months of testing vehicles on the city’s streets.

But not everyone who downloads the company’s app will be able to summon a car immediately. Waymo says it is gradually granting access to people who joined its waitlist, with plans to make the service broadly available over time, according to a release. Tens of thousands of people in Tampa have already expressed interest, the company says.

Waymo’s initial Tampa service area covers about 50 square miles, stretching from Westshore to Highland Pines in East Tampa and including neighborhoods such as Hyde Park, Northwest Park and Temple Crest. The company has not said when it will expand beyond those boundaries. 

Riders can request and pay for trips through the Waymo app much as they would with a conventional ride-hailing service. The difference becomes apparent when the car arrives: There is no human driver behind the wheel.

“Tampa’s innovative spirit continues to draw companies that are on the forefront of technology to our city,” Mayor Jane Castor says in a statement released by Waymo. “Waymo’s launch in Tampa provides another effective — and exciting — way to get around, helping us in our goal to strengthen our transportation network and provide options for every preference or need.”

The Tampa rollout is part of a larger, single-day expansion. The Alphabet-owned company also began accepting public riders Tuesday in Denver and San Diego, bringing the number of cities where it provides fully autonomous trips to 14.

Waymo began testing vehicles in Tampa in December, the company says, initially using human specialists to map streets and gather information about traffic patterns, construction, pedestrians and local weather. The company later moved to fully autonomous testing before opening the vehicles to invited riders.

In recent months, Waymo says it has also trained local first responders on how to approach and interact with its vehicles during crashes, traffic stops and other emergencies. Federal regulators emphasize that autonomous vehicles must be able to respond predictably to police officers, firefighters and road crews.

“From coast to coast, we’re focused on making everyday transportation safer, easier and more accessible,” Suzanne Philion, Waymo’s chief marketing officer, says in the company’s announcement.

Waymo grew out of Google’s self-driving car project, which began in 2009, and became a separate Alphabet business in 2016. Its autonomous system uses cameras, radar, lidar (light detection and ranging) and onboard computers to identify other vehicles, pedestrians and obstacles and navigate on the road without a human controlling the car. Waymo says it has accumulated more than 100 million miles of fully autonomous driving , according to its website.

The Tampa debut also extends Waymo’s rapidly growing presence in Florida. The company already provides rides in Miami and Orlando and has been expanding nationally.

Florida has created a particularly welcoming legal environment for the technology. State law allows a fully autonomous vehicle to operate without a human inside and treats the automated driving system as the vehicle’s legal operator while it is engaged. Autonomous ride-hailing networks are generally governed under the state’s transportation-network-company laws, the same broad framework that applies to services such as Uber and Lyft. Florida law also largely prevents local governments from creating their own separate operating rules.

Waymo has promoted safety as its central argument for replacing human drivers. The company says its vehicles have been involved in 94% fewer crashes resulting in serious or fatal injuries than human drivers covering comparable distances in the same operating areas.

That figure comes from Waymo’s own analysis. However, independent research has also found lower crash rates for the company’s vehicles. A 2026 study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reported that Waymo’s driverless vehicles had 81% fewer injury crashes per mile than human-driven vehicles in comparable areas. The researchers cautioned that additional data would be needed as autonomous operations expand to new cities and more complex driving environments. 

Still, Waymo won’t be the only autonomous vehicle in town for long. Tesla announced an expansion of its own robotaxi service to Tampa and Orlando earlier this summer. Tesla’s taxis are already operating in Miami. 

Supporters say driverless vehicles could provide greater independence for people who cannot or no longer want to drive.

“Waymo will be another great option for older adults, especially those that don’t want to drive anymore and are looking for another way to get out of their house and in their community,” Laura Streed, director of outreach and engagement at AARP Florida, says in Waymo’s announcement.

For now, Tampa riders waiting to try the service must download the Waymo app and join the queue. The company says it will notify users as broader access becomes available, but did not provide a date for eliminating the waitlist or opening rides to everyone.