Waymo is preparing for another major expansion of its robotaxi operations, announcing plans to enter three additional U.S. cities: Minneapolis, New Orleans and Tampa. The Alphabet-owned company revealed on Thursday that it will soon begin manually driving its autonomous vehicles on the streets of these cities. This initial phase allows Waymo to gather localized data, study road conditions and validate its driverless systems before transitioning into full autonomous testing. The long-term goal for each location is to launch a commercial, fully driverless ride-hailing service.
These three new markets broaden the company’s already substantial footprint. Waymo is currently running commercial robotaxi services in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Phoenix, including both surface streets and highway routes. It has also established active service zones or early programs in Austin and Atlanta. On top of that, the company has an ambitious 2026 expansion roadmap that includes Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Las Vegas, Miami, Nashville, Orlando, San Antonio, San Diego, Seattle and Washington, D.C. Beyond the U.S., Waymo is preparing to offer paid rides internationally, beginning with London and Tokyo. The company is also conducting limited testing in New York City, one of the most complex driving environments in the world.
However, Minneapolis, New Orleans and Tampa each introduce their own operational challenges. Minneapolis stands out as the first cold-weather city on Waymo’s expansion list with consistently harsh winters. Heavy snow, ice-covered roads and subzero temperatures create visibility issues and unpredictable traction — factors that stress-test an autonomous system’s perception and control capabilities. These conditions will offer Waymo an opportunity to refine its sensing and decision-making systems in ways that sunny, mild cities cannot.
New Orleans presents a different set of hurdles. The city’s urban layout contains many narrow, one-way streets, and pedestrian traffic is substantial, particularly in the historic French Quarter. An autonomous vehicle navigating this environment must be adept at handling dense foot traffic, tight turns, uneven street geometry and spontaneous human behavior — all aspects that complicate safe path planning. Tampa, meanwhile, has its own blend of heavy tourism, rapidly growing urban development and unpredictable coastal weather, making it another meaningful test bed for Waymo’s technology.
In recent years, Waymo has also shown growing interest in operational partnerships as it scales nationwide. Its robotaxis are available through the Uber app in Austin and Atlanta, allowing customers to book a Waymo vehicle similarly to a traditional ride-hail trip. In Phoenix, African mobility and fintech company Moove has stepped in to handle fleet operations, with plans to extend that model to Miami. Avis Budget Group is slated to manage Waymo’s vehicles in Dallas. It remains uncertain whether similar agreements will be established in Minneapolis, New Orleans or Tampa, but partnerships have been a strategic tool for accelerating deployment in new regions.
At the moment, Waymo is outpacing rivals in expanding its robotaxi footprint. Amazon-owned Zoox is offering free trips in its purpose-built autonomous vehicles in Las Vegas and running an early rider program in San Francisco. However, Zoox still awaits a regulatory exemption from the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration before it can launch fully commercial services.
Tesla is also working to scale its own robotaxi initiative, though its vehicles still require a human safety monitor in the driver’s seat. This week, Tesla received approval to begin offering rides in Arizona, supplementing ongoing operations in Austin and San Francisco.
With its latest push into Minneapolis, New Orleans and Tampa, Waymo is signaling that it intends to maintain — and potentially widen — its lead in the increasingly competitive autonomous ride-hailing market.
