Waymo, the self-driving taxi service owned by Google parent Alphabet, has reached a historic milestone, successfully conducting 10 million paid autonomous rides. The achievement reflects not just technological progress but a significant shift in consumer behavior that may soon reshape transportation across the country.
In less than a year, Waymo has increased its weekly ride volume from 10,000 in August 2023 to more than 250,000 today. According to California Public Utilities Commission filings, the company’s momentum has accelerated sharply, with March 2025 alone showing a 27% jump in paid rides after months of slower growth.
This rapid demand growth signals that Waymo’s autonomous vehicles are becoming a normalized part of urban mobility in cities such as San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Phoenix. The company is expanding quickly, launching services in Austin and preparing for rollouts in Atlanta, Miami, Washington, D.C., and as many as ten other cities. It has also begun collecting mapping data in Tokyo.
Waymo’s growth has started to change consumer habits. In markets like San Francisco, many users now consider Waymo rides comparable in price and wait time to traditional ride-hailing services. The fleet includes more than 600 vehicles in the Bay Area, and Waymo is extending its service range into parts of Silicon Valley. While rides to San Francisco International Airport are not yet available, the company has completed mapping for the area.
Despite the milestone, profitability remains a challenge. Waymo has spent billions to reach this point and is facing new competition from Tesla, which is expected to unveil its own robotaxi service in June. Tesla is pursuing a different approach based on a streamlined camera-and-AI system it claims will be cheaper to scale.
