Chips & Hardware
Waymo adds Las Vegas airport to its robotaxi network
Waymo now picks up and drops off riders at Las Vegas's Harry Reid International Airport, its sixth major airport market.
Waymo has begun picking up and dropping off riders at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas. Pickup and drop-off happen inside what the company calls “autonomous vehicle zones” at the airport’s Terminal 1 and Terminal 3, Waymo said Wednesday. It’s the sixth major airport where Waymo now operates, joining airports in Phoenix, Nashville, San Antonio, San Francisco and San Jose.
Waymo only opened its robotaxi service to the Las Vegas public in September, yet it already covers a 24-square-mile stretch of the city. Airport trips will start with a small group of riders before expanding to everyone who uses the service.
The airport is already competitive turf: Amazon’s Zoox runs rides there too, and the field is set to get more crowded. Nevada regulators approved permits in August letting Tesla and Uber add thousands of robotaxis to Las Vegas streets over the coming year.
Why it matters
Las Vegas is turning into a dense test bed for competing autonomous-vehicle operators, and winning easy airport access is becoming a proxy fight for market share before the rest of the fleets arrive.