Waymo is kicking off the new year with a new city: Miami.<\/p>\n
Starting today, anyone on the company\u2019s waitlist of approximately 10,000 people can hail one of its robotaxis for trips within a 60-square-mile service area that includes popular neighborhoods like the Design District and Wynwood, Brickell, and Coral Gables \u2014 but not popular tourist destinations like South Beach. The vehicles also will initially avoid highways and stick to local roads, with plans to expand to faster-speed roads<\/a> later this year.<\/p>\n It will be a similar phased rollout as in other cities, in which Waymo first opens up to those who have joined its waitlist and indicated interest in trying out its robotaxis before they are made available to the broader public. The map will also grow over time to include more neighborhoods and prime locations, like Miami International Airport.<\/p>\n Waymo\u2019s fleet of driverless vehicles will be managed by a company called Moove<\/a>, which provides fleet services as well as a range of financial products for mobility companies. The African company (it has several offices in Nigeria) is backed by Uber and was recently valued at $750 million<\/a>.<\/p>\n Waymo\u2019s robotaxi business has been growing slowly, even as the company has grown more confident naming the markets it wants to target in the future. Waymo currently operates in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Austin, Atlanta, and Phoenix. It hopes to launch<\/a> in over 20 cities<\/a> in the coming years, including San Diego, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Tampa, Houston, Orlando, Washington, DC, New York City, Denver, New Orleans, Tokyo, London, and several others. (Of course, not every city<\/a> is welcoming the robotaxis<\/a> with open arms.)<\/p>\n