At launch, Waymo’s vehicles will be available exclusively on the Uber app in Atlanta. The two companies first announced a deal to put Waymo’s robotaxis on the Uber app back in 2023, indicating that Austin would be first, followed by Atlanta. Waymo’s own ridehail app, Waymo One, will not be operational in Atlanta; customers who open Waymo One will be redirected to Uber’s app.
Waymo’s vehicles will only operate within a 65-square-mile service area that includes Atlanta’s Downtown, Buckhead, and Capitol View neighborhoods. The vehicles don’t drive on highways yet, nor will they make trips to the airport. Another thing to consider: simply calling an Uber in Waymo’s service area doesn’t guarantee a robotaxi will show up. Like in Austin, the companies will start with a small fleet of vehicles and grow from there.
Customers can increase their chances of being matched with a Waymo vehicle by opting into autonomous rides in the Ride Preferences section of their Uber app. The rides will cost the same as a typical UberX, Uber Comfort, or Uber Comfort Electric ride. Once the Waymo vehicle arrives, customers can unlock the door, open the trunk, and start the ride from the Uber app. Rides can also be started by pressing the button on the rear touchscreen in the vehicle.
Uber will manage fleet services, including vehicle cleaning, maintenance, inspections, EV charging, and depot operations. The company is contracting with Avmo (formerly Moove Cars) to handle these tasks. Waymo is still responsible for vehicle testing, roadside assistance, and certain elements of rider support. The companies will obviously share in the costs and the revenue produced by the robotaxi service, though both companies have declined to share the split.
Uber and Waymo, former rivals turned unlikely partners, have said they will work together to get more people to use driverless vehicles. But the partnership isn’t exclusive; Uber also is working with over a dozen other autonomous mobility companies, including sidewalk robot operators for its Uber Eats business. The company says it has quickly grown to an annual run rate of 1.5 million robotaxi and delivery robot trips on its network.
While many Atlanta residents will be experiencing a driverless car for the first time, Waymo isn’t new to the city. The company first started gathering mapping data and manually testing its vehicles in Atlanta back in 2018. Fully driverless testing started in January 2025, followed by early passenger trips in May 2025.
For those keeping score, there were approximately 283 days between identifying Atlanta as a future robotaxi city and launching the service on the Uber app.
Waymo’s success depends partly on narrowing that window for future cities in order to prove its scalability, while keeping an eye on safety. Waymo currently conducts approximately 250,000 rides each week in its four main markets. The company has also said it will launch in Miami and Washington, DC with its own Waymo One app.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
