Self-driving cars are officially picking up paying passengers on Tampa streets starting today, and unlike most transportation upgrades this city has seen, taxpayers aren’t footing the bill.

Waymo announced Tuesday that Tampa is one of three cities nationwide — alongside Denver and San Diego — where the company is opening its autonomous ride-hailing service to the general public for the first time. The company said thousands of Tampa residents have already signed up, and new riders are being added on a rolling basis as the service scales.

This is private capital and private engineering building new transportation infrastructure that the city government never had to plan, permit through a lengthy public works process, or pay for. Waymo’s vehicles will operate across a range of Tampa neighborhoods, including Sweetwater Creek, Del Rio, West Shore, and Palmetto Beach—corridors now served by a driverless fleet built entirely on private investment.

Mayor Jane Castor, in a statement included in Waymo’s announcement, framed the launch as validation of Tampa’s business climate. “Tampa’s innovative spirit continues to draw companies that are on the forefront of technology to our city,” Castor said. “Waymo’s launch in Tampa provides another effective — and exciting — way to get around, helping us in our goal to strengthen our transportation network and provide options for every preference or need.”

It’s a notable admission from City Hall: one of Tampa’s most significant transportation additions in years arrived not through a bond referendum, a transit tax increase, or a new government agency, but because a private company decided Tampa was a market worth entering.

The rollout didn’t happen overnight. Tampa Fire Rescue hosted Waymo representatives at its training facility back in November to get a firsthand look at the autonomous vehicles ahead of launch, giving first responders time to prepare for the new technology sharing the road. Local reaction has been mixed but curious — Tampa Bay 28 polled travelers on their thoughts about the service back in November, capturing a range of reactions from cautious skepticism to enthusiasm about the convenience.

Residents interested in trying the service can sign up directly through Waymo’s website.

Whether autonomous vehicles ultimately reduce congestion, cut emissions, or simply add another option to an already crowded transportation landscape remains to be seen. But for a city government often criticized for slow-moving infrastructure projects and nine-figure price tags, Tampa got a fleet of self-driving cars without appropriating a single public dollar.

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