Waymo’s latest expansion strategy: teenagers

Waymo is opening its robotaxi service to teenagers aged 13 to 17 in Nashville, its second city to offer rides to minors. Waymo will allow teenagers as young as 13 to use its robotaxi service in Nashville as the Alphabet-owned company looks to scale its business by reaching a new group of riders. Nashville is the second city to offer Waymo teen accounts; the company kicked off its teen account program in Phoenix last year. And more cities are likely to follow, according to the company. A Waymo spokesperson told TechCrunch that its expansion to Nashville will be the “first of many” teen launches across multiple markets that use the Waymo app in the coming months.

The spokesperson said it will offer teen accounts in cities where its operations are mature and local regulations allow it. Nashville is a relatively new market for Waymo, although it has support from local leaders to offer the service to teens. The company launched its service in a 50-square-mile area of Nashville in April 2026, and earlier this month, its robotaxis became available on the Lyft app. Waymo’s ridership has skyrocketed over the past two years — a trajectory largely driven by the rapid succession of new markets. Paid robotaxi trips grew tenfold from 50,000 per week in May 2024 to more than half-a-million