Waymo starts Harry Reid airport rides on Oct. 21 as Zoox charges fares and Tesla, Waymo and Uber hold permits for up to 7,000 vehicles
Waymo began offering robotaxi rides at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas on Oct. 21. Pickups and drop-offs use dedicated autonomous-vehicle zones on the Ground Zero Level of Terminals 1 and 3. Existing Las Vegas riders get access first, with more added gradually, TLI Magazine reported.
The airport launch comes five weeks after Waymo opened its Las Vegas service to public riders on Sept. 14. From the airport, riders can travel anywhere in a service area of about 24 square miles that covers the Strip and Allegiant Stadium. Las Vegas is Waymo’s 15th commercial market, and Harry Reid is its sixth major airport after Phoenix, Nashville, San Antonio, San Francisco and San José.
Amazon’s Zoox got there first. Its purpose-built vehicles, which have no steering wheel or pedals, have served the airport since Sept. 3, and Zoox began charging fares in Las Vegas on Aug. 10.
7,000 permitted vehicles: 5,000 for Tesla, 1,000 each for Waymo and Uber
The Nevada Transportation Authority (NTA) voted unanimously on Aug. 20 to grant commercial robotaxi permits in Clark County to Tesla, Waymo and Uber. Over 12 months, Tesla may run up to 5,000 vehicles and Waymo and Uber up to 1,000 each. Uber plans to fill its allocation with Zoox and Motional, the Hyundai Motor Group (현대자동차그룹) subsidiary that has run a supervised pilot on the Uber app in Las Vegas since March.
Tesla applied for 5,000 vehicles in June but was held to 10 on a Strip corridor under a July 27 interim order. The August decision lifted that cap, though fleet size is now up to the company. Eric Early, chief engineer of Tesla’s Cybercab, told the NTA he did not expect to deploy all 5,000 within a year, adding that “that’s not due to the technology.” As of late October, Tesla had not begun carrying public riders in Las Vegas.
Zoox’s own 100-vehicle cap expired on Sept. 25. The company says Las Vegas is the only city where it charges fares and that it plans to grow its fleet steadily over the coming months.
Taxi drivers and valets feel the squeeze
Incumbent drivers are pushing back. One Las Vegas cab driver told FOX5 his earnings had fallen by half since Zoox started charging. Reuters reported on Oct. 28 that taxi drivers and valets face growing pressure from Waymo and Zoox fleets. MGM Resorts pointed to its 2023 contract with the Culinary union, which guarantees advance notice of AI-driven job cuts along with health care and severance.
CES 2027 will be the first with paid robotaxis from the airport
When CES opens in January, visitors will land in a city where Waymo and Zoox already sell rides between the airport and the Strip. With Hyundai’s Motional helping to fill Uber’s permit, Las Vegas has also become a live commercial market for a Korean-owned autonomous-driving company. The next markers are how many cars Tesla actually deploys and when Waymo opens airport rides to everyone.