The Lewsearch Report/Pulse

Waymo Expands While Rivals Lag

July 9, 2026 · n=2,000 U.S. adults · fielded in ~3.5 minutesFielded and frozen July 9, 2026 — reactive read on Waymo's expansion into San Diego, Las Vegas, Tampa, and Denver.

Waymo is adding driverless rides in four new cities while Tesla and Zoox lag on deployment. Headlines read like Waymo is winning the race; the harder question is whether people will get in the car. We lead with Q2 (ride intent) because our audit flagged Q1 as a low-anchor question. Synthetic panel, not a probability sample.

Headline findings

48% vs 45%

not very likely vs somewhat likely to use a driverless taxi in their area — essentially a coin flip.

62% / 61%

partisan split: Democrats more open, Republicans more skeptical on riding.

92.2%

say Waymo is clearly ahead in delivering robotaxis — read directionally; question design stacks toward that answer.

The questions

Question 1

If a fully driverless taxi service came to your area, how likely would you be to use it?

Very likely

3.5%

Somewhat likely

45.2%

Not very likely

48.0%

Not at all likely

2.9%

Not sure

0.4%

Highest-signal question in the study. Partisan split: ~62% of Democrats very/somewhat likely; ~61% of Republicans not very likely.

Question 2

Waymo is adding driverless rides in San Diego, Las Vegas, Tampa, and Denver while rivals like Tesla and Zoox lag. Which comes closest to your view?

Waymo is clearly ahead in actually delivering robotaxis

92.2%

Promising tech, but moving too fast on safety

4.5%

Overhyped — most people won't use this

1.7%

Too early to tell who wins

1.3%

Don't know enough to say

0.3%

Flagged as low-anchor in our signal audit — published for transparency, not as a precise topline.

Methodology

Panel: U.S. national ACS-weighted panel
Sample: n=2,000
Fielded: July 9, 2026, ~10:26–10:30 AM ET
Model: Lewis · synthetic panel

Reactive LinkedIn pulse. Q1 omitted from the headline because of question-design concerns; Q2 is the lead finding.

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