Waymo opens public robotaxi rides in Denver, San Diego and Tampa

Waymo started picking up its first public riders in Denver, San Diego and Tampa on Monday. The three launches bring the company's fully autonomous, driverless service to 14 cities, the company said on its Waypoint blog.

Tens of thousands of people in each city have already signed up. Waymo says it will "steadily offer more and more riders Waymo access" while it works toward opening the service to everyone. An invite through the app is the door. Hailing a car today is not.

"Launching public rides in San Diego, Tampa, and in my home state of Colorado brings our newest vehicle platform and next-generation driver to more riders who are ready to experience the future of mobility," said Suzanne Philion, Waymo's chief marketing officer.

The company leads with a safety figure: the Waymo Driver is involved in 94% fewer serious injury or worse crashes than human drivers over the same distance. That number comes from Waymo's own crash data, not an independent audit.

Getting to launch took months of groundwork in each metro. Mapping and street validation, outreach to first responders, and meetings with local officials and community groups happened before a single public rider got in.

TechCrunch has two details the Waymo post skipped. Denver and San Diego riders get only the Ojai, Waymo's newest sixth-generation platform built with Zeekr, for now. The overall fleet of Jaguar I-Pace and Ojai vehicles now tops 4,000.

Tesla is already running paid driverless Model Y rides in several markets, including Tampa. At least one of these three cities opens with a rival already on the road.

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