On February 9, Waymo, the world’s first driverless rideshare service, proudly announced via Instagram that Waymo cars are now driving fully autonomously in Music City.
These black and white robo-taxis have been spotted around Nashville with increasing frequency since they first arrived last September. The cars can be distinguished by the large spinning sensors affixed to the top of their bodies. These sensors combine 360-degree cameras and radar technology to detect other vehicles, pedestrians, cyclists, and any obstructions on the road and predict the best way to move through traffic to their destination. The cars also utilize lidar technology, a method of using lasers and light to map out their surroundings.
Waymo is already picking up passengers in Atlanta, Austin, Los Angeles, Miami, Phoenix, and San Francisco. Nashville became the next to join that list in late February. Additionally, Metro Police Officers received an orientation on how the cars operate and perform on the road.
Hailing a Waymo is straightforward. All that’s required is their free app, which resembles the style of Uber and Lyft apps, and a Waymo car will arrive to deliver you wherever you wish. The car stays locked until you approach it with the device used to order it.
Asha Guha ‘28 rode in a Waymo car with her mother in Phoenix this past fall.
“It was very clean, and I liked the layout,” said Guha. “At first, I was hesitant, because I’ve never seen a self-driving car in person. I feel like you only see those things online… But it was actually a very nice experience.”
Guha enjoyed being able to hail a ride without a driver behind the wheel.
“I feel like it’s good, especially if you’re a woman. You don’t have to worry about a stranger who’s picking you up,” she said.
Controversy over the history of sexual misconduct and violence committed by rideshare drivers is a prominent issue. Uber has been the most notable perpetrator. Between 2017 and 2022, they received a report of sexual misconduct or assault every eight minutes, far more frequently than the company had previously admitted.
Safety concerns aren’t just limited to women. Kostas Rokas ‘29 agrees with Guha.
“If there’s nobody behind the wheel, it just feels safer,” he said.
Waymo might be safer than a rideshare in other ways, too.
“I think their safety record is better than what people assume it is,” shared math teacher and climbing coach Alex Wankowicz. Before teaching at USN, Wankowicz lived in San Francisco for six years, an hour away from Waymo’s headquarters in Mountain View, CA.
“Waymos were always on the road, either with drivers training them or driverless. My wife has an account, and would take Waymo all the time.”
Waymo reports that when compared to the average human driver, their cars have 90% fewer crashes that result in serious injury, 92% fewer pedestrian incidents, and 83% fewer cyclist incidents.
Wankowicz frequently travels on two wheels instead of four to get around Nashville.
“As somebody who cycles, I would feel much more comfortable with a Waymo being next to me in Nashville than a driver. I know people in town who have been hit (by drivers),” he said.
Waymo has the experience to back up their claims, too. As of September 2025, Waymo cars had driven a total of 127 million miles without a human driver, and over a billion miles in training simulations.
Still, concerns still linger over the trustworthiness of autonomous cars. On January 23, an elementary school student was struck by a Waymo in Santa Monica. The child ran into the street near a school right into the Waymo car’s path. The car, which had been moving at 17 miles per hour (and under the 25 miles per hour speed limit) prior to the incident, braked immediately and automatically contacted emergency services. The child sustained minor injuries.
The accident brings up a common question about driverless cars: Who is held responsible in the event of an accident? At least in the United States, Uber argues that they as a company are not culpable for the actions of their drivers, whom they view as independent contractors, not employees. When the wheel turns on its own, the company itself has to take responsibility for any accidents in which the Waymo car is deemed to be at fault.
Another area where it becomes unclear if Waymo will work out is dealing with challenges specific to Nashville.
“I’m thinking of late night Broadway transportation. That area gridlocks really, really badly, and you need to be very aggressive as a driver and just be a little smarter than a computer,” added Wankowicz. “A Waymo’s always going to make a measured, safe decision, but if you want to actually get through the Broadway corridor in under 45 minutes after 11:00 PM on a weekend night, that programming is not going to cut it.”
In most cities, passengers must be 18 to order a Waymo car. In Phoenix, teen accounts are available for those aged 14-18 and must be connected to a parent account. It is unknown whether this same teen account program will be considered for Nashville. Students in Phoenix frequently use Waymo as a way to get around that they and their families trust more than a taxi driver or letting the student drive themselves. In a D.A.S.H. survey from October 2025, 22.7% of USN students responded that they frequently use rideshare apps to get around. 60% reported that their parents would likely feel fine about them using a rideshare service on their own. If Waymo launches their teen account program in Nashville, it might become a viable option for many USN students.
But some students are wary. Z Aulino ‘26, brought up a number of potential issues with Waymo.
“I don’t like Waymo personally,” Aulino said. “It cuts down on people who would otherwise be using public transit. It also takes away jobs from people who drive taxis… I think we should expand public transit rather than expanding the use of Waymos.”
