Waymo is testing a driverless robotaxi in Nashville

Waymo has pulled a human safety driver from its self-driving test vehicles in Nashville, as the Alphabet-owned company gets closer to launching a robotaxi service in the city.

Waymo, which has been testing it in Nashville for months, is scheduled to launch a robotaxi service there this year in partnership with Lyft. Riders will initially book their rides directly through the Waymo app. Once the service expands, Waymo will also make its self-driving vehicles available through the Lyft app. Lyft said it will handle fleet services, such as vehicle uptime and maintenance, charging infrastructure, and warehouse operations, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Flexdrive.

Waymo has accelerated its expansion into robotaxis, and today operates commercial services in Atlanta, Austin, Los Angeles, Miami, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Phoenix. It also has driverless test fleets in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Orlando.

The company tends to follow the same rollout strategy in each new market, starting with a small fleet of hand-driven vehicles to map the city. Self-driving vehicles are then tested with a human safety agent in the driver’s seat. Eventually, the company is conducting driverless tests, often allowing employees to hail rides, before launching a robotaxi service.