Waymo is operating around 2,500 robotaxis in the United States as of November 2025. This growth makes the company one of the largest driverless fleets in the world. It shows that autonomous cars are moving from testing to real commercial use.
However, it also raises questions about safety, rules, and how these vehicles will affect cities and public transportation. This article looks at Waymo’s expansion, where it operates, the types of vehicles in its fleet, ridership, safety, regulations, competition, and environmental impact.
A Rapidly Expanding Waymo’s Robotaxi Network
Waymo has been working on self-driving technology for over ten years. The company started as Google’s self-driving car project with early prototypes on California roads and logged thousands of supervised test miles. These tests helped improve the system before launching public robotaxi services.
Most recently, Waymo operates in five U.S. cities: Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Austin, and Atlanta.
Testing is also happening or planned in Las Vegas, San Diego, and even Tokyo. The fleet is roughly 800–1,000 vehicles in San Francisco, 700 in Los Angeles, 500 in Phoenix, 200 in Austin, and about 100 in Atlanta. Analysts expect the fleet could reach 3,500 vehicles by 2026.
Waymo uses electric Jaguar I-Pace SUVs and the newer Zeekr RT platform. The Zeekr RT is designed for future autonomous vehicle (AV) technology but is not yet widely deployed. Currently, all vehicles still have steering wheels and pedals.
What Riders Are Seeing
Riders use a mobile app to hail Waymo robotaxis. They select a destination and wait for the vehicle. These trips are fully autonomous, and there’s no human driver on board.
Waymo has seen strong growth in rides. By mid-2025, the company offered about 250,000 paid trips per week across all its cities. Phoenix, the biggest market, handles tens of thousands of trips weekly. San Francisco and Los Angeles also show steady growth.
Higher fleet numbers reduce wait times and let Waymo reach more neighborhoods. More vehicles also help the system collect data to improve safety and navigation.
City-Spotlight: How the States Shape AV Deployment
Each city plays a different role in testing and deploying Waymo’s service:
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Phoenix: The largest and most mature market. Wide streets and good weather make it easier to run many trips.
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San Francisco: Narrow streets, steep hills, and heavy traffic make it a tough place for robotaxis. Expansion here helps Waymo test in dense urban areas.
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Los Angeles: Long, multi-lane roads with heavy traffic give an experience in car-dependent cities.
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Austin: A fast-growing, tech-friendly city. It allows Waymo to test in a new type of urban market.
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Atlanta: An emerging market. It lets Waymo expand into suburban areas with varied traffic patterns.
Together, these cities give Waymo diverse road and traffic conditions. This helps improve the system and provides data to regulators.
Safety and Regulation
Safety is a top concern. Waymo recalled 1,212 vehicles to fix a software problem. It caused low-speed collisions with gates, chains, and similar objects. No one was injured. NHTSA investigated and closed the review after 14 months.
Waymo reports 96 million “rider-only” miles driven. Its crash rate per mile is lower than human-driven ride-hailing services.
The vehicles have advanced sensors, real-time maps, and strict safety rules to detect hazards early. Academic research confirms that Waymo’s crash rates are lower than human drivers across millions of miles.
Moreover, regulations differ by state. Waymo has approvals for paid rides in Arizona, California, Texas, and now Atlanta. Each city has its own rules for safety, reporting, and emergency vehicle interaction—federal rules in 2025 aim to simplify reporting while keeping safety standards high.
Competition and Market Landscape
Waymo leads in fleet size and data collection, but the market is growing. Key competitors include Cruise, Zoox, Motional, and Tesla.
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Cruise: Urban-focused fleet; regulatory issues have slowed growth.
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Zoox: Short-trip robotaxis designed for cities.
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Tesla: Expanding autonomous features in consumer vehicles.
These competitors have different vehicle types, geographic strategies, and business models. Waymo still leads in scale but faces pressure from innovation and partnerships.
Green Miles: How Waymo’s Electric Fleet Cuts CO₂
As of November 2025, Waymo’s robotaxi fleet is fully electric. This means the vehicles produce zero tailpipe emissions, which helps reduce air pollution in the cities where Waymo runs.
According to Waymo’s own sustainability reporting, its shared electric fleet supports cleaner rides and healthier communities.
The company estimates that its robotaxi service delivers more than 250,000 electric rides per week. With that many rides, they say they prevent around 315 tons of CO₂ emissions every week, based on their emissions‑avoidance methodology.
The chart below shows the estimated CO₂ emissions avoided per week by Waymo’s fully electric robotaxi fleet in each city using the company’s data. San Francisco leads with 126 tons avoided weekly, followed by Los Angeles at 88 tons and Phoenix at 63 tons.
Smaller markets like Austin and Atlanta contribute 25 and 13 tons, respectively. Overall, this output highlights the environmental impact of scaling electric autonomous ride services across urban areas.
On the mileage front, the Waymo driver (its autonomous system) has driven 96 million “rider-only” miles (without any human driver) through June 2025. This is important: more electric, driverless miles means a bigger environmental impact (CO₂ avoidance) as the fleet scales up.
In 2024, Waymo’s all-electric autonomous fleet drove over 25 million miles, contributing to the completion of over 4 million fully driverless rides. This resulted in an estimated avoidance of over 6,000 metric tons of CO₂ emissions. It reflects the environmental benefits of their electric-powered robotaxi service.
Who’s Using Waymo? Riders and Adoption Patterns
Waymo’s users are a mix, but early data and studies give this picture:
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Many riders are urban commuters. In dense cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles, people use Waymo for daily trips, work commutes, and short errands.
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There is also a strong presence of tech‑savvy users. These are people who are comfortable with apps, early adopters of new technologies, and willing to try a robotaxi service.
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Suburban residents also use Waymo, especially where public transport is limited. In these areas, robotaxis offer a cleaner and more flexible alternative to owning a car or relying on inefficient transit.
Research helps support this. A study on automated vehicle adoption found that “tech mavens/travelers” — people who are comfortable with technology and use their commute time well — are among the most likely to use self-driving ride services. This fits what people expect. Early adopters of AV (autonomous vehicle) ride-hailing often value technology and efficiency.
Public Acceptance and Future Growth
Waymo operating 2,500 robotaxis across five U.S. cities shows the company is moving from testing to large-scale operations. The fleet provides hundreds of thousands of weekly rides. It also gathers data to improve safety and efficiency.
However, Waymo still faces challenges with safety, regulation, and public acceptance. Competition from other autonomous companies is also growing. But the company’s growth shows that autonomous vehicles are becoming a real part of urban transportation, shaping the future of driverless mobility.
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