The Zhitong Finance App learned that Lyft (LYFT.US) plans to “significantly expand” its Waymo robot taxi fleet in Nashville by the end of the year. The company said on Thursday that it is increasing its revenue from autonomous vehicles — responsible both for fleet operations and for matching capacity for passengers.
Chief Financial Officer Michael Brouse said the company earns revenue in Nashville in two ways: one is Waymo trips booked through the Lyft app, and the other is charging a fee for every available vehicle it maintains, charges, and cleans. “We get revenue when these cars leave the station, and we are billed according to the vehicles available.” Brous said. The company also said Waymo's airport shuttle service for autonomous vehicles is “coming soon.”
Lyft's Flexdrive division has been servicing the Nashville fleet since June, and the company opened an 80,000 square foot depot in the local area in October. Waymo is Alphabet's autonomous driving division.
Brous is optimistic about the Nashville partnership, but declined to disclose fleet size and utilization data — two common metrics for measuring the progress of robo-taxi services. “Early signs indicate that we are doing a good job. The expansion of the service area, the growth of the fleet, and the opening of airport transfers are all proof, and we will continue to move forward thereafter.” he said.
However, Brous also said that it will take “a long time” for robot taxis to achieve meaningful scale, citing challenges at the hardware, regulatory and operational levels, as well as a broader backlash against AI surrounding data centers and job losses.
Also, according to Waymo Co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana on Wednesday, the company will end its exclusive partnership agreement with Uber in Austin and Atlanta starting January 2028.
Financially, Lyft's adjusted core profit for the third quarter increased 47% year over year to $203.9 million, higher than LSEG's consolidated analysts' estimates of $194 million; the company's guidance on total bookings and adjusted core profit for the fourth quarter was broadly in line with Wall Street's expectations.