Waymo to begin manual drives in Minneapolis, Tampa and New Orleans, aims to open service in 2026

Alphabet's Waymo on Thursday announced that it will soon begin manually driving its robotaxi vehicles in Minneapolis, Tampa and New Orleans. The Google sister company will start operating test drives in that trio of towns with human drivers in hopes of launching its driverless robotaxi service there as soon as next year, the company said. If Waymo does begin operating in those markets next year, that would bring the robotaxi company's list of 2026 planned expansions to 15 cities. On Tuesday, Waymo said it p ...