Lyft brings Waymo driverless rides to Nashville platform
The partnership will match some Nashville riders with Waymo vehicles while creating depot roles for former Lyft drivers.
Lyft is integrating Waymo’s driverless rides into its Nashville platform, allowing some riders to be matched with autonomous vehicles through the Lyft app. Waymo began offering service in Nashville through its own app in April.
The rollout gives Lyft its largest autonomous-vehicle partner to date. Waymo operates in 14 US metropolitan areas, according to the source institution, and Lyft says it expects human drivers and autonomous vehicles to operate alongside each other in a hybrid network.
At a provisional Nashville depot, workers clean, prepare, repair and position Waymo vehicles for service. Lyft says the site employs 72 people, half of whom are former Lyft drivers.
A purpose-built, 80,000-square-foot depot is expected to open in October. Lyft says former drivers make up 35 per cent of its Flexdrive workforce across 30 US cities, and that it intends to continue partnering with other autonomous-vehicle companies.
Lyft executives have said adding autonomous vehicles could increase supply and lower fares, citing data from San Francisco. The company also says autonomous vehicles there did not reduce the number of rides available to human drivers, although the source does not establish whether the same effect will apply in Nashville.
The depot roles offer one route for former drivers to remain in the autonomous-vehicle ecosystem, but the source notes that vehicle-maintenance and fleet-operations jobs may not directly replace driving work lost through automation. Waymo did not respond to a request for comment.
