News of a new partnership in the robotaxi industry just hit the wires: Lyft and Waymo are joining forces to expand autonomous ride-hailing in Nashville starting in 2026. Lyft shares jumped in New York on the news. Waymo, a private subsidiary of Alphabet, will supply the autonomous vehicles to operate on Lyft’s Flexdrive fleet management platform, which will handle maintenance, charging, depot operations, and overall vehicle optimization.
At launch, rides will be available first through the Waymo app, with integration into Lyft’s app planned later this year. This new dynamic marketplace will enable Waymo vehicles to serve riders on both platforms, enhancing fleet utilization while supporting Lyft’s hybrid model, which combines human-driven vehicles and robotaxis.
“Riders will have the opportunity to hail Waymo’s fully autonomous vehicles first on the Waymo app, with plans to also dispatch its fleet on Lyft’s network for matched rides later in 2026,” Lyft wrote in a press release.
Lyft is expected to support the rollout by building out a dedicated AV fleet management facility in the Nashville metro area, ensuring high uptime and lower operating costs.
Executives from both companies highlighted the partnership was a perfect fit, with Lyft CEO David Risher stating:
“This partnership brings together best-in-class autonomous vehicles with best-in-class customer experience. Waymo has proven that its autonomous technology works at scale. When combined with Lyft’s customer-obsession and world-class fleet management capabilities, it’s two great tastes that go great together.”
Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana stated:
“We’re delighted to partner with Lyft and launch in Nashville next year, as we continue to scale our Waymo ride-hailing service to more people in more places. Lyft’s extensive fleet management capabilities through Flexdrive make them an ideal partner for expanding to Nashville. We can’t wait to introduce Music City’s residents and visitors to the convenient, consistent, safe, and magical Waymo experience.”
Shares in New York were up over 20% at the start of the cash session, but have pulled back a little since…
…but still breaking out of a trading range that dates back to early 2022.
After months of compression, the Waymo news could be the catalyst for further upside.
Robotaxi wars in North America are underway. How will Tesla respond?
Related:
According to Goldman…
Besides robotaxis, autonomous big rigs will be hitting the streets for commercialization momentarily – if they haven’t already.
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