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  • January 22, 2025
Waymo Robotaxis is coming to Miami

Waymo Robotaxis is coming to Miami

Just after Alphabet-owned robotaxi service Waymo successfully became a fixture on the streets of San Francisco and Los Angeles despite pleas from pedestrians, it announced plans to open a store in Miami starting next year, according to a announcement made by the company Thursday.

Waymo has tested its vehicles in Florida in the past, but said it will “reintroduce itself” to the Sunshine State by rolling it out Jaguar I-Pace electric vehicles will be equipped with its autonomous driving technology from early 2025. It plans to make rides widely available by 2026, allowing Miamians to order a ride through the Waymo One app.

Miami’s fleet will be operated by Mouthan Africa-based fintech mobility company offering vehicle financing to drivers, logistics and delivery professionals. The company, valued at $750 million, netted a $100 million investment from Uber earlier this year. Moove helps drivers finance car purchases and locks them in with a annual interest up to 13%and deducts the payments directly from the driver’s income until the loan is repaid – a scheme that has enabled lower-income workers in developing regions to gain entry into the exploitative gig economybut has largely failed to do so improve their material conditions.

Of course, at Waymo there is no driver; there is only the risk that a soulless, godless machine will fail to identify street signs and motorcyclists. The company claims its self-driving vehicles are significantly safer than the human alternative, Waymo last year an analysis performed of the more than 7 million miles its vehicles drove through Phoenix, Los Angeles and San Francisco, discovering its autonomous system was involved in a crash was 6.7 times less likely and 2.3 times less likely to be involved in a police-reported accident than a human driver.

But the safety record is not spotless. Waymo is currently under a federal investigation from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration about a series of incidents in which the company’s vehicles were involved in accidents and allegedly violated highway safety laws. According to NHTSA, the investigation focused on more than 20 cases involving “collisions with clearly visible objects that a competent driver would be expected to avoid.” Waymo too has issued two separate recalls for its autonomous software earlier this year in response to accidents, including one involving a Waymo vehicle struck a cyclist.

Despite the high-profile incidents, Waymo has made progress in its efforts to get self-driving vehicles on the road. Earlier this year, the company made ride-hailing available to the public in both cases San Francisco And Los Angeles. It also opened rides to select people into Austin, Texasand announced plans to offer driverless rides in Atlanta, Georgia starts early next year.

The company faces an uphill climb in gaining public trust even as it begins sharing roads with more people across the country. According to one AAA survey published earlier this year, only 9% of drivers rely on autonomous vehicles. That fear has only grown as self-driving cars become more common: by 2022, the number of people who trust autonomous vehicles will have fallen from 15% to 15%.