Waymo launched its fully autonomous robotaxi service in Las Vegas on September 14, making the city its 15th U.S. market and its first commercial operation in Nevada1,2,7.
The Alphabet-owned company is starting with several dozen of its new Ojai minivan robotaxis, serving a nearly 24-mile area that runs along Las Vegas Boulevard from Boulder Junction up to Sahara Avenue, including Allegiant Stadium and The Venetian4,6. Riders must request an invitation and receive an access code; Waymo typically opens full public access within one to two months of an official launch.
Fleet and hardware
Las Vegas is among the first cities where the majority of Waymo's fleet will consist of the Ojai, a purpose-built autonomous vehicle running the company's sixth-generation Waymo Driver. Denver and San Diego are the only other markets with majority-Ojai fleets so far. The Ojai's cabin features three large LED screens that let riders control temperature, music, and a rooftop lidar display. The vehicles use spinning lidars to build three-dimensional maps of nearby cars, pedestrians, and street features, and their cameras are fitted with wipers for harsher weather.
Waymo said it accumulated 220 million miles and nine months of testing specific to Las Vegas before opening to the public. More than 100,000 people expressed interest in riding ahead of the launch. The company's total fleet now exceeds 4,000 robotaxis spread across more than a dozen cities.
Competitive and regulatory landscape
The launch puts Waymo directly alongside Amazon-backed Zoox, which began commercial operations in Las Vegas in August. Tesla and Uber-partnered Motional are also planning commercial robotaxi services in the city. Nevada's transportation authority has authorized Waymo to operate up to 1,000 autonomous vehicles in Clark County over the next year, while Tesla received permission for up to 5,000 vehicles and Uber received permission for up to 1,000 robotaxis operating through partnerships with Motional and Zoox.
Tesla's Cybercab chief engineer Eric Early told state regulators that Tesla "would be extremely happy and satisfied if it could get itself up to 2,500, maybe a bit higher than that" in the next year.
Rapid expansion cadence
The Las Vegas opening caps a busy September for Waymo. Earlier this month, the company began offering rides to invited users in Denver, San Diego, and Tampa. Waymo also operates in Austin, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, Phoenix, and the San Francisco Bay Area. The company launched and then paused service in San Antonio.
Waymo raised $16 billion in February at a $126 billion valuation. In May, the company said it was scaling production capacity toward tens of thousands of Waymo-enabled vehicles annually at its Mesa, Arizona factory.
Waymo cited safety data showing its vehicles have 94% fewer serious-injury-or-worse crashes and 93% fewer pedestrian crashes with injuries compared with human drivers.