Waymo Self-Driving Vehicles Gain Popularity in Austin

(TNS) — If it seems like there are more of Waymo's distinctive self-driving vehicles on Austin's roads these days, it's likely because these autonomous vehicles are becoming increasingly popular among residents.

Launched in March, a partnership between Waymo and Uber brought self-driving cars to Austin via the popular ride-hailing service's app. Since then, the latest data from market research website YipitData shows promising numbers for the popularity of the service in Austin.

The encouraging data reflect Waymo's long-standing relationship with the city of Austin, where self-driving cars have been tested extensively. The company's success also sets the stage for a showdown as the deadline for hometown brand Tesla to roll out its Robotaxi service rapidly approaches.

MARKET DATA SHOW AUSTINITES ARE EMBRACING SELF-DRIVING WAYMOS

According to YipitData, the last week of March was significant for Waymo as it accounted for 20% of all Uber trips in Austin.

Moreover, the analysis showed that autonomous rides in Austin were more than 80% higher than those in San Francisco during its launch there.

While this could be due to the increased familiarity that consumers are experiencing with autonomous vehicles, it is also important to point out that these rides were administered by the more popular Uber app, rather than the Waymo One app. Also, shortly after Waymo launched rides in Austin, it enjoyed a spike due to the South by Southwest conference and festival.

Waymo now operates in Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles and parts of Silicon Valley in addition to Austin. The company plans to expand to markets like Atlanta and Miami in the future.

TESLA ROBOTAXI SERVICE IS APPROACHING JUNE LAUNCH DATE SET BY MUSK

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said very little about what a self-driving car service from the brand would look like. However, two key pieces of information that have been mentioned are that the service is scheduled to hit Austin roads in June and that it will do so via a new app.

The rides also are said to be backed by Tesla's yet-to-be-released "unsupervised" version of its Full Self-Driving software.

Musk has clarified that Tesla owners will not yet be able to add their own cars to the ride-hailing service, an idea he previously pushed during the brand's announcement of the Robotaxi.

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