Ride & Mobility

Avis Budget Group Partners with Waymo to Launch Autonomous Ride-Hailing Service in Dallas

Published

3 days ago

July 29, 2025

None

PARSIPPANY, N.J., July 29, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Avis Budget Group, Inc.

(NASDAQ: CAR)

, a leading global provider of mobility solutions, today announced a multi-year strategic partnership with Waymo, the leader in self-driving technology, to launch and scale a fully autonomous ride-hailing service in Dallas.

Through this agreement, Avis Budget Group will serve as Waymo’s fleet operations partner in Dallas, delivering end-to-end services including infrastructure, vehicle readiness, maintenance, and depot operations. Waymo will offer its ride-hailing service directly to the public via the Waymo app, while maintaining responsibility for validation and performance of the Waymo Driver. Initial testing is already underway in Dallas with the public launch slated for 2026.

For over 75 years, Avis has been a leader in the rental car industry. This new strategic partnership reflects an ambition to grow beyond travel and actively shape the future of mobility. It demonstrates Avis’s ability to monetize its core strengths in large scale fleet management within a high-growth category at the forefront of technology. Avis is establishing its place as a strong partner to support and scale the operational backbone of autonomous vehicle networks.

Brian Choi, Chief Executive Officer of Avis Budget Group, Inc. said, “Our partnership with Waymo marks a pivotal milestone in our evolution, from a rental car company to a leading provider of fleet management, infrastructure and operations to the broader mobility ecosystem. Together, we’re committed to making scaled autonomous mobility a reality for the people of Dallas, with plans to expand to additional cities in the near future.”

Tekedra Mawakana, co-CEO, Waymo, said, “We look forward to bringing our fully autonomous ride-hailing service to the people of Dallas next year, offering a new era of safe and seamless transportation. Working together with our fleet partner Avis, Waymo will offer more riders a stress-free way to get around.”

Waymo and Avis are proud to usher in a new era of urban transportation to the people of Dallas. We look forward to this initial phase of our partnership and intend on scaling autonomous mobility to more cities together over time.

ABOUT AVIS BUDGET GROUP

We are a leading global provider of mobility solutions, both through our Avis and Budget brands, which have approximately 10,250 rental locations in approximately 180 countries around the world, and through our Zipcar brand, which is the world’s leading car sharing network. We operate most of our car rental locations in North America, Europe and Australasia directly, and operate primarily through licensees in other parts of the world. We are headquartered in Parsippany, N.J. More information is available at avisbudgetgroup.com.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Certain statements in this press release constitute “forward-looking statements.” Any statements that refer to outlook, expectations or other characterizations of future events, circumstances, or results, including the partnership with Waymo discussed in this press release, are forward-looking statements. Various risks that could cause future results to differ from those expressed by the forward-looking statements included in this press release include, but are not limited to, risks related to the partnership with Waymo discussed in this press release, regulatory requirements and the other factors described in the “Risk Factors” and “Forward-Looking Statements” sections of Avis Budget Group’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024 and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the three months ended March 31, 2025. Accordingly, actual results, levels of activity, performance, achievements, and events could differ materially from those stated, anticipated or implied by such forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.

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Ride & Mobility

$21 million for ‘Clean Mobility’ in New York State

Published

10 hours ago

August 1, 2025

Ciaran Daly

In other words, the funding will go towards ‘demonstration projects’ for schemes such as car-sharing, ride hailing, e-bikes, e-scooters, shared EVs and on-demand electric public transport – rather than private passenger EVs. The funding will be available to local governments, public transport operators, ‘community-based organisations’, or employers with 1000+ employees.

Applicants must submit proposals for their demonstration projects including a complete planning document covering community engagement, site and partner identification, technical feasibility assessments, and policy / regulatory assessments. A cost share of a minimum of 20 per cent of the total project cost in other funding will be required. Up to $3 million will be awarded per individual project.

Part of the funding pool will be set aside for specific areas of the state, including up to $3 million for any type of demonstration project in the Bronx.

State Senator Jeremy Cooney said: “The Clean Mobility Program represents a major step forward in delivering economic opportunity and cleaner transportation to underserved communities across Upstate New York. By investing in ridesharing, micro mobility, and on-demand transportation options, we’re expanding access to jobs, public transit, while also reducing emissions.

New York State Energy Research and Development Authority President and CEO Doreen M. Harris added: “Supporting electric vehicle ride sharing, e-bikes, e-scooters and other sustainable, affordable mobility options helps keep people engaged and active in their communities. We look forward to receiving innovative demonstration proposals that offer the opportunity to help New Yorkers maintain transportation independence and can be replicated and adopted throughout the state for the benefit of all.”

The deadline for proposals is September 25, 2025.

governor.ny.gov

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Ride & Mobility

Hochul: $21 million now available for zero-emission mobility transportation solutions – WGRZ

Published

1 day ago

July 31, 2025

the Editor

Hochul: $21 million now available for zero-emission mobility transportation solutions WGRZ

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Ride & Mobility

Swiggy to re-evaluate investment in Rapido over conflict of interest

Published

1 day ago

July 31, 2025

Arshad Khan

Food-tech firm Swiggy will re-evaluate its investment in ride-hailing startup Rapido, citing a potential conflict of interest as the mobility company recently entered the food delivery space.

“Rapido is now the largest mobility player in India by rides, and has been a disruptor in its space. As a shareholder, we are extremely happy with their success and value-creation; but do acknowledge a potential conflict of interest that may arise in the future,” said Swiggy in its letter to shareholders on Thursday.

It added, “Our 12% minority stake has appreciated significantly since our investment (basis incoming interest) and we are actively re-evaluating our investment due to the above developments.”

Rapido entered the food delivery space in June through a pilot called ‘Ownly’ in Bengaluru, charging restaurants a fixed fee per order. A proposal shared with restaurants shows that Rapido is positioning itself as a zero-commission, value-focused alternative to Swiggy and Zomato.

Swiggy invested in Rapido in 2022. It holds approximately a 12% stake in Rapido which is valued at around Rs 1,020 crore based on Rapido’s current valuation of just over Rs 8,500 crore. The ride-hailing company, which competes with Ola and Uber, has raised around $600 million so far.

“Food delivery continues to attract new competition, with new players or models trying to enter this high-frequency, high customer-intent category every year. The key question is what new competition will unlock for the consumer, which we are not already doing at scale. Many of the new offerings we have created (including on affordability) and will continue to roll out, will be towards ensuring that competition does not get a clear opening.” Swiggy stated in the letter.

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