Lyft Could Roll out Robotaxis in Texas Next Year

Lyft has announced plans to launch robotaxi services in Dallas, Texas, by 2026, following its partnership with Mobileye, a leader in autonomous driving technology. The collaboration, initially revealed in November 2024, aims to integrate Mobileye’s self-driving systems into Lyft’s extensive transportation network, which serves 40 million annual riders in North America. The alliance seeks to enable fleet operators to deploy and manage large-scale autonomous vehicle (AV) fleets across metropolitan areas, leveraging Lyft’s demand platform and Mobileye’s AV technology.

Jeremy Bird, Lyft’s executive vice president of driver experience, stated that the service will begin in Dallas and expand to other cities if successful, potentially scaling to thousands of vehicles. Meanwhile, Lyft’s competitor, Uber, is collaborating with Waymo to introduce robotaxis in Austin and Atlanta, signaling a competitive race to dominate the autonomous ride-hailing market in the U.S.

Lyft CEO David Risher emphasized Mobileye’s role in preparing AV fleets for deployment, while Mobileye’s CEO, Prof. Amnon Shashua, highlighted the importance of partnerships with mobility providers to bring autonomous services to new markets. While Waymo has already demonstrated operational success, other players like Mobileye and Tesla are advancing rapidly, suggesting a diverse and competitive landscape for robotaxi services in the coming years.