Millions of Trips, “Waymo” Empty Miles: California’s First Thousand Days of Commercial Robotaxi Service

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Millions of Trips, “Waymo” Empty Miles: California’s First Thousand Days of Commercial Robotaxi Service

Article Published May 18, 2026

This article was originally published in Transport Findings on May 18, 2026.

By Awad Abdelhalim

Autonomous rideshare services, generally referred to as robotaxis, have been scaling up rapidly in the United States. However, there is very little visibility into the operations of these services and their impact on urban congestion, particularly when vehicles are cruising without passengers onboard. We analyzed the composition of more than 86 million total vehicle miles traveled over approximately 14 million Waymo robotaxi trips, using data reported to the California Public Utilities Commission from August 2023 through December 2025. We found that only about 54% of all miles traveled by Waymos in California are driven with a passenger onboard.

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