Latest news with #WaymoDriver
Miami Herald
3 hours ago
- Automotive
- Miami Herald
Waymo's Robotaxi Service Reaches Another Major U.S. City Next Year
One by one, America's major cities are being infiltrated by the robotaxi buzz. Waymo is one of the leading autonomous taxi providers in the United States, and the company has just announced that it will be expanding to Dallas, Texas, in 2026. This expansion to a major area in the Lone Star State adds to other Waymo robotaxi deployments planned for 2026, including Washington D.C. and Miami. Waymo has once again emphasized its fleet's safety standards as it prepares to launch in Dallas. The launch in Dallas will expand Waymo's coverage in Texas beyond Austin, where commuters can already order a driverless taxi via Uber. In Dallas, Waymo will leverage its partnership with Avis to provide commuters with a reliable, efficient, and safe taxi service. "We are excited that fully autonomous ride-hailing services are scheduled to begin in Dallas next year," said Dallas City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert. "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." The ride-hailing service will be available via the Waymo app, with the Avis Budget Group's experience in fleet management, vehicle readiness, maintenance, and infrastructure helping to get the Dallas operation up and running. Related: Waymo Won't Like U.S. City's Response to Its Driverless Technology Waymo claims that its robotaxis are much safer than vehicles operated by humans. Based on its data, the Waymo Driver resulted in 88% fewer serious injury or worse crashes, 79% fewer crashes involving an airbag deployment, and 78% fewer crashes involving an injury of any kind. There are safety benefits for vulnerable road users, too, with Waymo reporting 93% fewer pedestrian crashes with injuries, 81% fewer cyclist crashes with injuries, and 86% fewer motorcycle crashes with injuries. Currently operating in Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Francisco, Atlanta, and Austin, Waymo provides over 250,000 paid trips and its taxis cover millions of miles each week. In Phoenix, Waymo recently launched a new teen-friendly service, where teens as young as 14 can ride alone in an autonomous cab. In June, Tesla launched its robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, with several driverless Model Y crossovers. It didn't take long for the service to raise safety concerns, as one Model Y was already involved in a minor crash, and several others were spotted violating traffic laws. Lucid is set to launch its own robotaxi service with Nuro and Uber, with a fleet of driverless Gravity electric SUVs. Roughly 20,000 of these vehicles will be deployed over a six-year period, with a launch to take place in a major U.S. city next year. It remains to be seen which robotaxi service ends up dominating, and that could come down to the one that offers the best safety reputation. Copyright 2025 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Avis Budget Group Announces Multi-Year Strategic Partnership with Waymo
PARSIPPANY, N.J., July 29, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: CAR), a leading global provider of mobility solutions, today announced a multi-year strategic partnership with Waymo, the leader in self-driving technology, to launch and scale a fully autonomous ride-hailing service in Dallas. Through this agreement, Avis Budget Group will serve as Waymo's fleet operations partner in Dallas, delivering end-to-end services including infrastructure, vehicle readiness, maintenance, and depot operations. Waymo will offer its ride-hailing service directly to the public via the Waymo app, while maintaining responsibility for validation and performance of the Waymo Driver. Initial testing is already underway in Dallas with the public launch slated for 2026. For over 75 years, Avis has been a leader in the rental car industry. This new strategic partnership reflects an ambition to grow beyond travel and actively shape the future of mobility. It demonstrates Avis's ability to monetize its core strengths in large scale fleet management within a high-growth category at the forefront of technology. Avis is establishing its place as a strong partner to support and scale the operational backbone of autonomous vehicle networks. Brian Choi, Chief Executive Officer of Avis Budget Group, Inc. said, 'Our partnership with Waymo marks a pivotal milestone in our evolution, from a rental car company to a leading provider of fleet management, infrastructure and operations to the broader mobility ecosystem. Together, we're committed to making scaled autonomous mobility a reality for the people of Dallas, with plans to expand to additional cities in the near future.' Tekedra Mawakana, co-CEO, Waymo, said, "We look forward to bringing our fully autonomous ride-hailing service to the people of Dallas next year, offering a new era of safe and seamless transportation. Working together with our fleet partner Avis, Waymo will offer more riders a stress-free way to get around.' Waymo and Avis are proud to usher in a new era of urban transportation to the people of Dallas. We look forward to this initial phase of our partnership and intend on scaling autonomous mobility to more cities together over time. ABOUT AVIS BUDGET GROUP We are a leading global provider of mobility solutions, both through our Avis and Budget brands, which have approximately 10,250 rental locations in approximately 180 countries around the world, and through our Zipcar brand, which is the world's leading car sharing network. We operate most of our car rental locations in North America, Europe and Australasia directly, and operate primarily through licensees in other parts of the world. We are headquartered in Parsippany, N.J. More information is available at FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS Certain statements in this press release constitute 'forward-looking statements.' Any statements that refer to outlook, expectations or other characterizations of future events, circumstances, or results, including the partnership with Waymo discussed in this press release, are forward-looking statements. Various risks that could cause future results to differ from those expressed by the forward-looking statements included in this press release include, but are not limited to, risks related to the partnership with Waymo discussed in this press release, regulatory requirements and the other factors described in the 'Risk Factors' and 'Forward-Looking Statements' sections of Avis Budget Group's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024 and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the three months ended March 31, 2025. Accordingly, actual results, levels of activity, performance, achievements, and events could differ materially from those stated, anticipated or implied by such forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances. Investor Relations Contact:David Calabria, IR@ Media Relations Contact:Media Relations Team, ABGPress@ Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
CNBC
2 days ago
- Automotive
- CNBC
Waymo plans to bring its robotaxi service to Dallas in 2026
Alphabet's Waymo unit plans on bringing its robotaxi service to Dallas next year, adding to a growing list of prospective U.S. markets for 2026, including Miami and Washington, D.C. Rental car company Avis will be managing the Waymo fleet in Dallas, via a new partnership the companies announced Monday. Avis CEO Brian Choi said in a statement that the agreement marks a "milestone" for the company, which is now also working to become "a leading provider of fleet management, infrastructure and operations to the broader mobility ecosystem." Waymo robotaxi testing is already underway in downtown Dallas involving the company's Jaguar I-PACE electric vehicles with the Waymo Driver system. That combines automated driving software, sensors and other hardware that power the vehicles' "level 4," driverless operations. Passengers will be able to hail a driverless ride using the Waymo app in Dallas. In some other markets, Waymo only makes its services available through ride-hailing platform Uber. Waymo has surged ahead in the robotaxi market while other autonomous vehicle developers, including Tesla, Amazon-owned Zoox, and venture-backed startups such as Nuro, May Mobility and Wayve, are working to make autonomous transportation a commercial reality in the U.S. Waymo says it conducts more than 250,000 paid weekly trips in the markets where it operates commercially, including Atlanta, Austin, Los Angeles, Phoenix and San Francisco. Waymo's steepest competition internationally comes from Baidu's robotaxi venture Apollo Go in China, which is eyeing expansion in Europe. On Alphabet's second-quarter earnings call, execs boasted that, "The Waymo Driver has now autonomously driven over 100 million miles on public roads, and the team is testing across more than 10 cities this year, including New York and Philadelphia." The business has become significant enough that Alphabet even added a category to its Other Bets revenue description in its latest quarterly filing. "Revenues from Other Bets are generated primarily from the sale of autonomous transportation services, healthcare-related services and internet services," the filing said. The Other Bets segment remains relatively small, however, with revenue coming in at $373 million in the quarter, up from $365 million a year ago. The division still reported a loss of $1.25 billion, widening from $1.13 billion in the second quarter of 2024.
CNBC
07-07-2025
- Automotive
- CNBC
Waymo to begin testing in Philadelphia with safety drivers behind the wheel
Waymo said it will begin testing in Philadelphia, with a limited fleet of vehicles and human safety drivers behind the wheel. "This city is a National Treasure," Waymo wrote in a post on X on Monday. "It's a city of love, where eagles fly with a gritty spirit and cheese that spreads and cheese that steaks. Our road trip continues to Philly next." The Alphabet-owned company confirmed to CNBC that it will be testing in Pennsylvania's largest city through the fall, adding that the initial fleet of cars will be manually driven through the more complex parts of Philadelphia, including downtown and on freeways. "Folks will see our vehicles driving at all hours throughout various neighborhoods, from North Central to Eastwick, and from University City to as far east as the Delaware River," a Waymo spokesperson said. With its so-called road trips, Waymo seeks to collect mapping data and evaluate how its autonomous technology, Waymo Driver, performs in new environments, handling traffic patterns and local infrastructure. Road trips are often used a way for the company to gauge whether it can potentially offer a paid ride share service in a particular location. The expanded testing, which will go through the fall, comes as Waymo aims for a broader rollout. Last month, the company announced plans to drive vehicles manually in New York for testing, marking the first step toward potentially cracking the largest U.S. city. Waymo applied for a permit with the New York City Department of Transportation to operate autonomously with a trained specialist behind the wheel in Manhattan. State law currently doesn't allow for such driverless operations. Waymo One provides more than 250,000 paid trips each week across Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Austin, Texas, and is preparing to bring fully autonomous rides to Atlanta, Miami, and Washington, D.C., in 2026. Alphabet has been under pressure to monetize artificial intelligence products as it bolsters spending on infrastructure. Alphabet's "Other Bets" segment, which includes Waymo, brought in revenue of $1.65 billion in 2024, up from $1.53 billion in 2023. However, the segment lost $4.44 billion last year, compared to a loss of $4.09 billion the previous year.
CNBC
24-06-2025
- Automotive
- CNBC
Uber, Waymo robotaxi service opens to passengers in Atlanta
Uber and Alphabet's Waymo are now offering robotaxi rides to the public in Atlanta, as the companies continue expansion of their partnership. The Waymo robotaxis available through the Uber app will cover approximately 65 square miles around Atlanta, but will not yet travel on highways or to the airport. The vehicles feature Waymo's driverless technology, known as the Waymo Driver, integrated into battery electric Jaguar I-PACE SUVs. The companies said in September that they would be jointly bringing Waymo One to Austin, Texas, and to Atlanta. Rides became available in Austin in March, launching in the Texas capital before Elon Musk's Tesla got its robotaxi service off the ground. Tesla, which is now headquartered in Austin, debuted a pilot robotaxi service there over the weekend for invitees only. Tesla's robotaxis are Model Y SUVs equipped with the company's latest driverless technology. The Tesla robotaxis operate in daytime hours only in a geofenced area of Austin, and include a human valet who rides in the front passenger seat to ensure safety. Waymo robotaxis in Austin, Atlanta and elsewhere operate without any human supervisor on board. They also employ sophisticated lidar and radar sensors that are not used in Tesla's vehicles today. Once viewed as a driverless pioneer, Tesla is now fighting to catch up with Waymo, as well as competitors in China including Baidu's Apollo Go, and WeRide, which also partners with Uber. In Atlanta and Austin, Waymo rides are only available through Uber's app, while in San Francisco and Los Angeles, passengers book through the Waymo One app. The Waymo-Uber partnership only covers passenger rides, not Uber Eats deliveries.
