Atlanta’s driverless future is already here—and some riders prefer it

Because she’s legally blind and doesn’t drive, Lee Rogers has always used rideshare to navigate the city. A Candler Park resident, Rogers has been enjoying a new experience: being alone in the car, ferried to her destination by a driverless Waymo. The autonomous vehicles, which have been available through the Uber app since June 2025, cover about 65 square miles of intown Atlanta. Rogers has come to prefer Waymo to traditional rideshare options, citing benefits such as safety, cleaner cars, no small talk with a driver, and no tipping. She appreciates the solo ride—a first for her.

“I think a lot of people who drive are afraid of self-driving cars because they don’t have control,” Rogers says. “But I’ve never had control because I’m blind.”

Atlanta is among the first cities in the country to offer Waymo, along with San Francisco, Los Angeles, Austin, and Phoenix. Though the software company has its own app in certain markets, it’s been using Uber as a platform to introduce Atlantans to Waymo; an option in the app’s settings allows users to opt for the autonomous ride. Waymo’s Atlanta fleet consists of about 100 vehicles, and the company plans to add more over the next few years.

Courtesy Of Waymo and Uber

“Waymo chose Atlanta almost two years ago because of the rideshare demand,” says Ethan Teicher, a spokesperson for Waymo. Teicher says Miami is the company’s next target market, with launches in other major cities soon to follow.

Midtown resident Cator Sparks chose the Waymo option on Uber out of sheer curiosity. He’d been seeing the cars around town and was happy to discover they were clean and quiet. “I thought the Waymo was easy to operate,” he says. “I touched my phone to the door to unlock it and picked 1940s jazz out of the music options.”

Still, some experiences with autonomous vehicles have resulted in frustration, and Rogers and Sparks say there’s room for improvement. “Waymo didn’t register that it had new passengers,” Sparks says of one recent ride. “We had to call for support, step out of the car, and give it a minute. Meanwhile, it blocked other cars from entering the parking lot.”

Nationwide, Waymo cars and other autonomous vehicles have come under scrutiny for failing to adhere to road safety laws such as stopping for school buses; some state legislatures have considered tougher restrictions on driverless cars.

Rogers acknowledges that the driverless ride still isn’t perfect. “But if I have a choice between an Uber and a Waymo,” she says, “I’m taking a Waymo.”

This article appears in our February 2026 issue.

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