Image: WaymoWith this expansion, Miami and Orlando become the fifth and sixth cities designated by Waymo as ‘open for everyone’. This milestone follows similar rollouts in Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Austin. Meanwhile, five additional cities—Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and Nashville—are already in the early-access phase for selected users via a waitlist.According to Waymo, over 150,000 users have joined the interest lists for Miami and Orlando in recent months to trial the service. From now on, however, all residents and visitors in both cities can download the Waymo app and book a fully autonomous ride without delay.As in other cities, Waymo prepared the service through a multi-stage process. Initially, the company, which originated from the ‘Google self-driving car project’, mapped public roads using its vehicles and trained onboard personnel. This was followed by tests with safety drivers and, eventually, rides without them. The driverless service was first made available to employees before being opened to the first real customers from the waitlist.The new Waymo service in Miami includes the unique feature of making motorway journeys available from the outset, a first for the company’s launch cities. Such trips are not yet a standard option for all routes; interested users must notify Waymo via the app. In Phoenix, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, motorway journeys have since been integrated into standard routes.Earlier this year, Waymo raised $16 billion from investors and is considered significantly ahead of its competitors in developing a robotaxi service. This year, Waymo plans to expand its service to 20 new cities, with Miami and Orlando as the first two. The announced launch in London is highly anticipated, as it would mark Waymo’s first city in Europe and its first right-hand-drive market—posing additional challenges for Waymo’s AI systems. Preparations for London are underway: this week, Waymo shared its first video of an autonomous drive through the British capital.waymo.com