Lyft has launched a robotaxi service in Nashville in partnership with Waymo, marking the company's first major deployment of autonomous vehicles. The service, which went live on September 9, 2026, allows users to hail Waymo’s Jaguar I-Pace electric fleet directly through the Lyft app.
The autonomous vehicles operate across core Nashville neighborhoods, including Downtown, Germantown, East Nashville, Midtown, and South Nashville. Passengers can select from four service tiers: Standard, Priority Pickup, Wait & Save, and Extra Comfort.
Lyft’s subsidiary, Flexdrive, will manage fleet maintenance, charging, and cleaning at a new 80,000-square-foot operations depot scheduled to open in October 2026. The facility will be staffed by technicians, many of whom are former Lyft drivers.
This non-exclusive partnership allows Waymo to dispatch its vehicles across both the Waymo One and Lyft platforms simultaneously. While Lyft is currently the only rideshare partner in Nashville, Waymo already operates in Phoenix, Atlanta, Austin, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.
Lyft previously exited the self-driving development sector in 2021 by selling its autonomous division to Toyota’s Woven Planet for $550 million. The company now focuses on integrating third-party autonomous technology to reduce marginal costs associated with human drivers.
