Waymo opens paid driverless rides in Miami

Previously

In Part 1, Waymo hired Moove to run fleet operations in Phoenix and build depots in Miami for a 2026 launch. In Part 2, Waymo and Lyft said Flexdrive would run depots in Nashville. Neither deal's terms were disclosed.

MIAMI, January 2026 — Waymo's robotaxis are now taking paying public riders in Miami, on the schedule it set in 2024. Here's what changed since Part 2 (September 2025), what it cost, and what went wrong.

Cost and outcome (as of Jan. 22, 2026)

Riders: "nearly 10,000 residents already signed up," invited on a rolling basis. (Waymo)
Area: 60 square miles, including the Design District, Wynwood, Brickell and Coral Gables; not South Beach. (The Verge)
Fleet partner: Moove, for "vehicle charging, cleaning and repairs." (CNBC)
Company scale: 450,000 weekly paid rides in December 2025 and 14 million trips in 2025, Waymo said. (CNBC)
Miami fleet size and fares: not disclosed.

What launched

Miami is Waymo's sixth market and its first new one of 2026, CNBC reported. Waymo began testing there in early 2025, according to CNBC. TechCrunch reported that the company removed safety operators in November 2025 and opened driverless rides to employees first.

The cars stay on local roads at first, with highways planned later in 2026, The Verge reported. Waymo says it plans to add Miami International Airport "soon"; TechCrunch noted it gave no timeline beyond that.

"We're excited to offer its residents and visitors a safe, reliable, and magical way to move around," said co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana.

The depot partner, one year on

CNBC reported that Moove handles charging, cleaning and repairs for the Miami fleet, the role Waymo described when it named Moove in December 2024. The Verge described Moove as a company that provides fleet services and financial products. None of the launch reports gave figures on how Moove's depots perform, such as vehicle uptime or turnaround time.

What officials and groups said

Miami-Dade County Commission Chairman Anthony Rodriguez welcomed Waymo in its post, adding that the county would work "while ensuring these operations meet our high standards for safety, transparency, and accountability."

Waymo's post also quotes MADD South Florida's Rachel Lamar, who called autonomous vehicles "another tool in the toolbox to help end impaired driving," and Virginia Jacko, CEO of Miami Lighthouse for the Blind.

Waymo claims "over 127 million fully autonomous miles" and a "ten-fold reduction in serious injury crashes compared to human drivers in the areas where we operate." Those are Waymo's figures.

The wider push, and its problems

Waymo planned to bring service to nearly a dozen more cities over the following year, TechCrunch reported, including Nashville. It is testing in some of them with Jaguar I-Pace vehicles and "newer Zeekr RT vans that have been rebranded 'Ojai.'" Zeekr is a wholly owned unit of Geely Automobile Holdings, part of China's Geely group, according to Geely's Dec. 22, 2025 filing with the Hong Kong exchange. (Geely) TechCrunch had called Zeekr a "Chinese automaker" on Jan. 7. (TechCrunch)

The pace is the point. Mawakana said in October 2025 that "by the end of 2026, you should expect us to be offering 1 million trips per week," TechCrunch reported. CNBC's figure of 450,000 weekly paid rides in December 2025 means Waymo would need to more than double in a year. TechCrunch wrote in 2024 that the Moove deal showed Waymo was keen to outsource more of the commercial side of the business.

TechCrunch also pointed to Waymos causing traffic jams during a December 2025 power outage in San Francisco (see /case/waymo-sf-blackout). Federal regulators opened an investigation over how Waymos behave around stopped school buses (see /case/waymo-recalls-school-buses).

What went wrong

No performance data on the depots. Waymo and Moove have not published uptime, cost or staffing figures.
A limited first map. No South Beach, no airport and no highways at launch.
Unresolved safety questions elsewhere. The school-bus issue was still drawing new videos after a software recall, TechCrunch reported.
What we don't know yet: how many cars serve Miami and how long the waitlist lasts.

Our follow-up question for Waymo

How many vehicles does Moove maintain in Miami, and how does their availability compare with fleets Waymo runs itself?

Later developments (added Oct. 2026)

In a help-center notice dated April 15, 2026, Waymo said "anyone can download the app and ride in Miami and Orlando," and that highway access was "beginning to roll out in Miami to select riders." (Waymo Help)
Waymo opened Nashville in April 2026 (TechCrunch). See Part 4.
In September 2026, Axios reported on Waymo's plans for its Zeekr-built Ojai vans amid a U.S. crackdown on Chinese vehicle technology. (Axios)

Sources

Waymo, “Miami, Your Waymo Ride Is Ready,” Jan. 22, 2026. waymo.com
CNBC, Lora Kolodny, “Waymo launches robotaxi service in Miami, extending U.S. lead,” Jan. 22, 2026. cnbc.com
TechCrunch, Kirsten Korosec, “Waymo continues robotaxi ramp up with Miami service now open to public,” Jan. 22, 2026. techcrunch.com
The Verge, Andrew J. Hawkins, “Waymo is accepting public riders in Miami,” Jan. 22, 2026. theverge.com
TechCrunch, Kirsten Korosec, “Waymo is rebranding its Zeekr robotaxi,” Jan. 7, 2026. techcrunch.com
Geely Automobile Holdings, “Overseas Regulatory Announcement: Termination of U.S. Reporting Obligations with the SEC,” HKEX, Dec. 22, 2025. www1.hkexnews.hk
Waymo Help, “Waymo is now available to everyone in Miami and Orlando,” April 15, 2026. support.google.com
Axios, Joann Muller, “Waymo's cheaper robotaxis collide with China crackdown,” Sept. 1, 2026. axios.com
TechCrunch, Kirsten Korosec, “Waymo opens robotaxi service in Nashville, partners with Lyft,” April 7, 2026. techcrunch.com

Disclosure: [not in copy] Editor placeholder