Waymo says anyone can now hail a driverless ride in San Antonio, San Diego and Tampa

Waymo says its fully autonomous rides are now open to all riders in three more cities. Here’s what that means for ride-hail drivers.

I drive rideshare for a living, so when a robotaxi company opens a new city, I read the fine print.

On October 14, Waymo posted on its blog that "starting today, anyone in San Antonio, San Diego, and Tampa can download the Waymo app and hail a fully autonomous ride, including the San Antonio International Airport." That's three metros at once. The only airport Waymo names is San Antonio International.

Waymo also says it has "welcomed hundreds of thousands of riders in these cities since opening our service earlier in the year." That's Waymo's number, not an independent count.

Waymo's help page now lists all three cities as service areas and says, "We're on the road 24 hours a day, 7 days a week."

What Waymo didn't say

The announcement doesn't give prices, fleet size, or how often remote help steps in. So I can't tell you yet how it stacks up against an Uber or Lyft fare in those cities.

Why I'm watching it

Nobody here is claiming drivers lost jobs over this, and I'm not either. What's changed is simple: in three more cities, a rider can open an app and get a trip with nobody in the driver's seat. For me that's the reason I stack hustles and keep learning new ones. I don't see it as doom. It just tells me where the road is heading.