Robotaxis have stopped being a novelty in parts of the United States. In some American cities you can now open an app, get into a car with nobody in the driver's seat and pay for the trip like any other taxi. In others, the car still has a human behind the wheel, or the service is for invited riders only. And in London, despite the headlines, there is not yet a single robotaxi you can ride without a driver on board.
This tracker sets out where things stand at the start of November 2026, company by company, with the difference between "driverless" and "supervised" made clear. We will update it as services open.
How to read this tracker: "driverless" means nobody is in the driver's seat during your ride. "Supervised" means a trained safety driver or monitor is on board and can take over. Where a figure comes from the company itself rather than an independent source, we say so.
At a glance
| Operator | Where you can ride today | Driver on board? | How to book |
|---|---|---|---|
| Waymo | 15 US metros, incl. Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Austin, Atlanta, Miami, Las Vegas | No | Waymo app; Uber in Austin and Atlanta |
| Tesla | Austin, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, San Francisco Bay Area | Some cars; safety driver in every Bay Area car | Tesla Robotaxi app |
| Zoox | Las Vegas (paid); San Francisco (free, waitlist) | No, and no steering wheel | Zoox app |
| Baidu Apollo Go | Cities in mainland China; Dubai | No | Apollo Go app; Uber in Dubai |
| Wayve with Uber | London | Yes, a licensed driver | Uber (opt in, not guaranteed) |
Waymo: the clear leader
Waymo, owned by Google's parent company Alphabet, is the only operator running a large, fully driverless public service in the West. It says it now operates in 15 US metro areas and carries more than 500,000 paid rides a week. In San Francisco, the Guardian reports, its cars already account for more than a quarter of all ride-hailing trips.
October was a busy month. On 14 October Waymo opened its service to anyone in San Antonio, San Diego and Tampa, including rides to San Antonio's airport. On 27 October it said it was adding nearly 250 square miles of coverage within a week across Los Angeles, Nashville, Orlando, San Diego and the San Francisco Bay Area. That takes Los Angeles service down the coast to Torrance, San Diego north to La Jolla, and the Bay Area down to San Jose. In Las Vegas, Waymo opened to riders in September, starting with "dozens" of its new Ojai minivans, and is letting people in gradually from its waiting list.
In most cities you book through the Waymo app. In Austin and Atlanta, Waymo rides come through Uber instead. Waymo is also mapping Toronto for first riders in 2028, and has said it will start testing in Madrid.
Tesla: bigger map, fewer answers
Tesla's Robotaxi service runs in seven US metro areas: Austin, Dallas and Houston in Texas, Miami, Orlando and Tampa in Florida, and the San Francisco Bay Area. But it is a mix. According to the independent tracker run by The Charge Port, only part of each fleet runs without a safety monitor, and Tesla does not say how many. In the Bay Area, California law means every car has a safety driver.
The steering-wheel-free Cybercab joined the public fleet in Austin on 4 September, and Tesla says it will reach Dallas this month. Tesla also lists Las Vegas, Phoenix, San Antonio and Jacksonville as "coming soon". Nevada approved up to 5,000 Tesla robotaxis in the Las Vegas area in August, but the service there has not started.
The scale gap with Waymo is still wide. Electrek compared the two companies' own figures: Waymo logged 3.9 million miles a week with no one at the wheel in the second quarter, while Tesla's driverless fleet covered 558,000 miles in its latest reported week. We looked at what Tesla is, and isn't, telling investors in our report on the Cybercab's move to Dallas.
Zoox: Amazon's pod on the Strip
Zoox, owned by Amazon, builds a carriage-style robotaxi with facing seats and no steering wheel or pedals. After US safety regulators granted it an exemption from some vehicle rules, it began charging for rides in Las Vegas on 10 August and added the city's Harry Reid airport on 3 September. TechCrunch reported that Zoox had about 100 robotaxis across four cities in September. Las Vegas is the only place it charges. In San Francisco it gives free rides to people let in from a waiting list while it waits for California permits, and Austin and Miami are open to employees and their friends and family only.
China and the Gulf: the other robotaxi superpowers
Outside the US, fully driverless rides that the public can book are only running in two countries: China and the United Arab Emirates. The biggest operator is Baidu's Apollo Go, which says it gave more than 4.1 million fully driverless rides in the first half of 2026 and passed 23 million rides in total by the end of June. Since August, riders in parts of Dubai can also be matched with an Apollo Go car through Uber. Pony.ai and WeRide run driverless services in Chinese cities too, and WeRide does in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. None of the Chinese firms offers rides in the US.
The UK: robotaxis, but not driverless ones
Britain's first robotaxi rides began in London on 3 September, when Wayve and Uber launched supervised trips in electric Ford Mustang Mach-Es. Every car carries a TfL-licensed private hire driver who is legally responsible for the journey. Rides cover anywhere in London except the airports, and cost the same as a normal UberX, Uber Electric or Uber Comfort trip.
Getting one is a matter of luck. You can opt in under Trip Preferences in the Uber app's settings, but there are only 15 licensed cars for the whole city. More than 140,000 Londoners had opted in by launch day, and the trade magazine Highways tried and failed to get matched with one.
Others are waiting in the wings. Waymo has been testing its Jaguar I-Pace cars in London with specialists behind the wheel and wants to run a fully driverless service. Baidu and Freenow, now owned by Lyft, have been testing in Brent since July and are aiming for driverless tests next year and a commercial launch in 2027. Uber has started mapping Manchester with Pony.ai and Verne, with a safety driver and no passengers.
Why there is no driverless taxi in London yet
The legal route exists. Since 15 May 2026, operators have been able to apply for an Automated Passenger Services permit under the Automated Vehicles Act. But it has three gates. The Vehicle Certification Agency must first list the car as able to drive itself safely, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency must then grant a permit, and Transport for London has six weeks to give or refuse consent. If it says nothing, consent is assumed.
TfL told the London Assembly in October that no vehicle has yet been listed under the act and no application has reached it for consent. Its guidance for applicants won't be ready "for some time". The UK's first fully driverless rides now look more likely in 2027 than this year. Our guide to the Automated Vehicles Act explains the rules in more detail.
Should London cap robotaxis?
The politics are hardening. On 9 October the London Assembly's transport committee said it was not convinced London should welcome autonomous passenger services. It called for TfL to be given power to issue and withdraw permits and to cap the number of robotaxis when full regulations arrive in 2027. Drivers' unions have protested outside Wayve's and Waymo's London bases, and a think tank, the Centre for British Progress, estimates that more than 400,000 UK drivers, 121,000 of them in London, could see much of their work disappear. We covered the protest at Wayve's King's Cross base in October.
What to watch next
- Whether Tesla's Cybercab reaches Dallas in November as promised, and whether it starts carrying riders in Las Vegas.
- Waymo's next new cities, and whether it adds airport pick-ups at big hubs such as Los Angeles.
- The first UK listing under the Automated Vehicles Act, and TfL's guidance for applicants.
- Baidu's next quarterly results, and whether the UK puts tariffs on China-built electric cars, which could raise the cost of Baidu's London fleet.