Lyft Adds Waymo Robotaxis in Nashville, Marking First Commercial Driverless Service

In Nashville, riders can hail a Waymo robotaxi directly from the Waymo app or try the Lyft app, which will match them with a Waymo depending on availability. Under the partnership, Lyft handles fleet services including vehicle readiness and maintenance, as well as infrastructure and depot operations through its wholly owned subsidiary Flexdrive.

TechCrunch noted that Lyft had earlier worked on autonomous vehicle partnerships with Aptiv, now Motional, in Las Vegas; May Mobility in Atlanta; Baidu in London; and Waymo in Phoenix. The company spent four years and millions of dollars developing its own AV technology under its Level 5 business division before selling that unit to Toyota's Woven Planet Holdings subsidiary for $550 million in 2021. Lyft then paused AV work to focus on ride-hailing but did not abandon the sector.

Jeremy Bird, Lyft's executive vice president of growth, told TechCrunch that he manages the company's international, luxury, and autonomous vehicle plans. Asked when and where more robotaxis would appear on the Lyft app, Bird did not offer specifics. He said Lyft entered 2026 focused on its Waymo partnership in Nashville and its Baidu partnership in London, where commercial service has not yet launched.

'I think next year what you'll see is more diversification of that,' Bird said, adding that ideally the plan would include expanding Lyft's partnerships with both companies. 'I think next year will be a big year for us.'

International markets are a major part of the AV expansion plan, according to the report. Bird called London a 'fascinating market' and repeatedly described Lyft as a global company, a shift from its recent focus on the United States. He said Lyft is prioritizing international locations where it can operate a hybrid network of autonomous and human-driven vehicles from the start.

'We are a global company becoming more global, which is important for us,' Bird said. 'And AVs will be the way we think about the future. Like any market we go into, is there an AV component to that? Is it a market where AVs are already open regulatorily, or that would put that market up higher on our list of the places we want to go?'

Editor's Summary

Lyft has begun offering Waymo robotaxis through its app in Nashville, with Lyft handling fleet and depot operations via Flexdrive. The move marks Lyft's first commercial driverless robotaxi service and follows years of AV partnerships and the 2021 sale of its Level 5 unit. Lyft says it plans to expand AV partnerships internationally, including in London with Baidu, though commercial service there has not launched.