Waymo, the self-driving company controlled by Alphabet, has dropped the waitlist for its robotaxi service in Dallas, opening it up to all residents and visitors of the Texas city. It is the latest step in the company's bid to scale its autonomous driving technology across the United States, the United Kingdom and Europe.
On Tuesday (4), the company said anyone can now download the app and immediately hail one of its robotaxis in Dallas. For now, riders will not be able to hail a ride to Dallas Love Field Airport. Waymo said it continues to test its self-driving vehicles at the airport and expects to serve riders there soon.
Waymo has had a presence in Dallas since last year, when it began testing its technology on public streets and announced plans to launch the service there in 2026. At the time, the company said it would partner with Avis Budget Group to manage its fleet of all-electric autonomous Jaguar I-Pace vehicles. Avis handles general depot operations, including charging and maintaining the cars.
Waymo opened the service to the public in February, but initially limited access through a waitlist. About 150,000 riders used the Waymo app during this period, the company said. Now the waitlist is gone, following a robotaxi playbook it has used in every other market, including Phoenix, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
The entry into Dallas, however, had some early hiccups. In May, Waymo paused its service in Dallas, Houston and San Antonio, Texas, as well as Atlanta, due to problems with how its robotaxis handled heavy rain and flooded roads. While services have resumed in these cities, Waymo said it may adjust or temporarily pause operations based on severe weather, flood warnings and real-time conditions in the future. A spokesperson said riders can check the service status via the Waymo app.
The move matters not only for Dallas but for the autonomous vehicle industry as a whole. By eliminating the waitlist, Waymo demonstrates confidence in the maturity of its technology and signals it is ready to operate at scale in markets beyond the pioneering West Coast cities. Dallas, with its unpredictable weather and heavy traffic, acts as a real-world test for the robustness of autonomous driving systems, including facing adverse conditions that have already caused operational pauses.
There is also the competitive dimension: Waymo is competing with Zoox, owned by Amazon, and Tesla, which are also racing to launch robotaxi services. The Dallas opening reinforces Waymo's position as the most advanced player operating at real scale. The open question is how the company balances aggressive expansion with safety and reliability in extreme scenarios — after all, the decision to pause services under heavy rain in May showed that the regulatory environment and public opinion do not forgive failures in this sector. Passenger trust, built gradually, remains the company's most valuable asset.
The Dallas expansion also carries a strategic signal for the broader mobility market: once a city reaches scale, the marginal cost of adding riders drops sharply, which is precisely where autonomous fleets can out-compete traditional ride-hailing on economics. Investors and analysts will be watching whether waitlist-free Dallas translates into sustainable ride volumes and whether the weather-related caution of May is a temporary blip or a recurring constraint.
Sources: TechCrunch, NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth, CNBC
✓ Independent sources cross-checked and verified before publishing
