Waymo’s skyrocketing ridership in one chart

Waymo is present providing 500,000 paid robotaxi rides each week crossed 10 U.S. cities, the institution shared successful a post connected X this week. The eye-popping fig is reflective of the Alphabet-owned company’s accelerated commercialized expansion. But it’s Waymo’s complaint of maturation successful ridership and markets that offers a much compelling story. 

In little than 2 years, the company’s mean play paid robotaxi trips person grown tenfold, from 50,000 per week successful May 2024 to 500,000 per week today. Over that aforesaid two-year timespan, Waymo has expanded wrong its archetypal markets of Phoenix, San Francisco, and Los Angeles — and beyond them to Austin, Atlanta, Miami, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and Orlando. Those 7 cities successful the Sun Belt were each added successful conscionable the past year.

Waymo’s robotaxi fleet has besides grown, though the institution has guarded those numbers and seldom provides updates. Data provided successful December 2025 to the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration shows the institution had 3,067 robotaxis equipped with its 5th procreation self-driving system. The institution inactive uses that “over 3,000” fleet fig today. That could soon alteration with the introduction of its 6th procreation self-driving system, which volition debut connected the Zeekr minivan, known arsenic Ojai, and the Hyundai Ioniq 5. 

The alternatively dependable 3,000-fleet figure, combined with maturation successful play paid rides, suggests that Waymo is squeezing much retired of each robotaxi. That utilization fig is peculiarly important due to the fact that bare Waymo vehicles roaming San Francisco oregon elsewhere don’t marque wealth and increase congestion. 

That maturation does travel with challenges. Waymo has received much scrutiny successful caller months from the nationalist and regulators. For instance, NHTSA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the amerciable behaviour of Waymo robotaxis astir schoolhouse buses. Meanwhile, San Francisco metropolis officials person raised concerns astir however the institution handles stuck robotaxis, including Waymo’s occasional usage of police and firefighters to wide its vehicles.

Waymo’s ridership numbers are inactive a sliver of Uber’s human-driven ride-hailing business. Uber completed immoderate 13.5 cardinal trips successful 2025, a fig that includes completed ride-hailing and transportation trips, according to securities filings. The closest axenic ride-hail fig was shared during Uber’s August 2024 earning telephone erstwhile the institution said it completed much than 1 cardinal mobility trips per hour.

In different words, Waymo is not nipping astatine Uber’s tires conscionable yet.

Still, with each month, the company’s pb successful robotaxi rides grows wider. 

A fig of companies are vying for a portion of that robotaxi pie, though galore person yet to connection a afloat autonomous ride-hailing work that charges a fee. There are immoderate Chinese robotaxi companies, including Pony.ai and WeRide, that complaint for robotaxi rides, but nary run successful the United States.

Tesla began operating a paid robotaxi work successful Austin successful January, and portion CEO Elon Musk has said the institution is adjacent a afloat autonomous ride-hailing work successful California, it lacks immoderate of the required permits to bash so. Other companies, including Avride, Hyundai-owned Motional, and Zoox, are each pushing towards paid robotaxi services successful assorted markets by the extremity of the year.

They each person immoderate catching up to do.