From TechCrunch · Kirsten Korosec · · 1m 40s
Waymo targets teenagers to fuel robotaxi growth
The autonomous vehicle company is expanding into a new market segment by letting 13-year-olds ride alone in its driverless cars.
In brief
The autonomous vehicle company is expanding into a new market segment by letting 13-year-olds ride alone in its driverless cars. Waymo is using teen ridership as a growth lever, betting that parents will prefer autonomous vehicles to teen drivers and that young people represent an untapped market for scaling the…
Waymo opens robotaxis to teens
Waymo is letting teenagers as young as 13 ride its autonomous vehicles in Nashville, the second city to offer teen accounts after Phoenix launched the program last year.
Teen accounts require parental link
Teen riders must connect their account to a parent or guardian, but can then hail rides anywhere in Waymo's Nashville service area and bring up to three friends ages 13 to 17.
Expansion planned across multiple cities
Waymo says Nashville teen launches are the first of many coming to cities where operations are mature and local regulations allow it.
Tapping a new rider demographic
Teenagers rely on parents or public transit for transportation. Waymo's teen service targets this group, offering parents an alternative to their kids driving or catching rides with teen drivers.
Waymo's ridership exploded recently
Paid robotaxi trips grew tenfold from 50,000 per week in May 2024 to over half a million per week earlier this year, driven by rapid expansion into a dozen cities.
Nashville is a newer market for Waymo
Waymo launched its Nashville service in April 2026 across a 50-square-mile area, and earlier this month made robotaxis available on the Lyft app.
Teen riders could create chaos
Four teenagers in an unsupervised robotaxi could invite disorder, but parents may see it as safer than having their kids drive or ride with teen drivers.
The key point
Waymo is using teen ridership as a growth lever, betting that parents will prefer autonomous vehicles to teen drivers and that young people represent an untapped market for scaling the business.
