In June 2025, Waymo launched its robotaxi service in Atlanta through a partnership with Uber. The collaboration allows Uber app users to hail rides in self-driving cars across a 65-square-mile zone that includes Midtown and Buckhead.
Since then, it has become common for Atlanta residents to see Waymo cars—Jaguar I-PACE SUVs—around their neighborhoods, and many have already taken rides inside. Because of the initial success, Waymo has started to update and expand the service in Atlanta.
“A few months ago, we all thought the Waymo cars were so cool and couldn’t even imagine what it would be like to ride in one,” sophomore Amalia Kaiman said. “If I saw one, I would think ‘Woah, what is that, and why is it so clunky?’ I’d probably go and tell my friends and we’d talk about if we would want to go in one. Now, I honestly see them all the time and don’t really think twice about it. I obviously know that it’s self-driving, but it doesn’t feel new or strange or anything.”
Waymo has new plans that will be making headway in the near future, with hopes of making its rides more casual and widely used than ever before. These plans include expansion projects, updates to technology and an overall greater potential for the technology.
“While going rider-only was once considered a technical feat, it’s become routine for Waymo,” the Waymo team noted in a recent blog post. “We’ve built a generalizable Driver, powered by Waymo’s demonstrably safe AI, and an operational playbook to reliably achieve this milestone, and our safety- and community-first approach, enables us to bring it to riders faster than ever.”
One major development that is already underway in cities such as Phoenix and Los Angeles is freeway expansion. In Atlanta, Waymo cars are currently limited to neighborhoods, but the company plans to put them on the highways surrounding the city in early 2026. While Waymo is yet to be involved in many high-impact accidents, some residents wonder whether freeway driving is safe without further testing.
“Every Waymo I’ve seen looks like it’s driving safely and I never really hear anything bad, but I still don’t think I would want to be driving next to one or especially in one on the highway,” sophomore Mia Pivoshenko said. “The highway is a lot more chaotic than neighborhoods, and I don’t know if it could handle something happening unexpectedly. I personally think the traffic in Atlanta is a lot worse than many other cities, so that’s another reason.”
There have been a few notable incidents locally with Waymo cars driving more recklessly, including passing stopped school buses—a breach of federal law. Originally, the design was very cautious but now the cars are taking some risks.
“I know there is a subtle difference in how careful Waymo cars are from when they started up because I remember thinking how impressed I was with their perfect driving at first, but recently I had to report one for cutting across a lane,” Midtown parent Susan Eisenband said. “I assume the company has to be quick to fix problems like that because most people I know are still incredibly cautious about getting into one.”
The company has been very hard at work to fix issues such as these through voluntary software recalls and updates, yet not every potential problem can be addressed.
“While we are incredibly proud of our strong safety record showing Waymo experiences twelve times fewer injury crashes involving pedestrians than human drivers, holding the highest safety standards means recognizing when our behavior should be better,” Waymo’s Chief Safety Officer Mauricio Pena said in a recent statement. “We will continue analyzing our vehicles’ performance and making necessary fixes as part of our commitment to continuous improvement.”
Waymo has also been testing its sixth-generation Zeekr vehicles on Atlanta streets. They are not yet available as robotaxis, but once deployed, they will move to be a larger-scale fleet than the Jaguar I-PACE Waymo models.
“I’ve seen a few of the new Waymo models driving around and I’m curious to see what they’ll be used the most for,” Pivoshenko said. “They’re large vans, so definitely a lot bigger than what is out now. I think they are supposed to be able to handle more complicated tasks. Maybe it’s mail services or something like that. I would still prefer to ride in the smaller cars if I just needed a ride.”
The boost in technology and innovation going into the Waymo design may contribute to them being more versatile and generally useful. Eisenband thinks this might also aid in their popularity and increase willingness as a passenger.
“If Waymo is sending out a new model of car, I’m sure they would have added new technology and made them even better. It makes me a lot more curious about how different it is from your average Uber ride,” Eisenband said. “I’d also guess that if there are more fleets around Atlanta and they are more available, people like me will generally become more comfortable and ride in Waymo cars on the regular.”
In the next few months, the company plans to put Baltimore, Pittsburgh, St. Louis and Philadelphia into the testing stage. Many cities that have passed through this phase will open Waymo cars to riders like San Diego, Las Vegas and Washington D.C.. Furthermore, there are some international plans for Waymo cars to enter into big cities such as London and Tokyo, all expected to launch in 2026.
“I think it would be nice to go to another country and have Waymo drive me to my hotel or whatever because it can be pretty hard to figure everything out if you arrive in the middle of the night and don’t speak the language and everything,” Kaiman said. “A self-driving car would solve a lot of that. But also, I feel like that might disconnect me from the culture and experience of a new place.”
In the near future, whether people are ready or not, Waymo technology and cars from other companies like it will be covering the streets. The expansion and exploration of these new technologies are rapidly adding to a more innovative society.
“We really don’t know how advanced this will get. It might just be a taxi service, but it also might be something more complicated,” Pivoshenko said. “I hope I get the opportunity to try one out soon.”
