Waymo Nashville Airport Field Report

Grayson Brulte conducts a full field report on Waymo’s service at Nashville International Airport (BNA), covering both pickup and drop-off experiences. The Waymo ride to the Ryman Auditorium cost $25.45, over $10 cheaper than UberX, with a nine-minute wait and a dedicated, congestion-free pickup zone at D1.

While Waymo currently avoids highways, adding roughly 10–12 minutes to the ride, the consistent, driverless experience is highlighted as a key differentiator. Brulte notes far more Waymo vehicles in Nashville than the market appears to be pricing in, calling it a potentially very large market for the company.

Key Field Report Questions Answered

Field Report Topics & Timestamps

[0:00] Waymo Pickup at Nashville Airport (BNA)

Grayson Brulte walks two minutes and 20 seconds from the terminal doors to Waymo’s dedicated pickup spot at D1 in the outer lane. The Waymo arrives nine minutes after the order.

[0:45] Waymo vs Uber vs Lyft Pricing

The Waymo ride to the Ryman Auditorium costs $25.45, compared with $32.94 for UberX and $39.96 for a standard Lyft, with upgraded options running as high as $65.97 for an Uber Black SUV.

[02:09] No Highway Access and the Ride Downtown

Waymo currently does not operate on the highways in Nashville, so the ride downtown takes roughly 35 minutes on back roads. Along the way we count 11 Jaguars, one Ojai and a pumpkin wrapped Jaguar, which suggests a fleet larger than the market is pricing in.

[05:35] Pumpkin Waymo Drop Off at BNA

We rode the pumpkin Jaguar back to BNA after 7:00 PM. With no 15 miles per hour zones like in San Antonio, the Waymo moves with traffic and pulls into the outer lane right in front of the shuttle buses.

[08:44] AUTNMY AI

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Full Field Report Transcript

Grayson Brulte: We’re in Nashville today and the trend continues. Yes, we’re going to check out airports today. We’re at the, the BNA, Dolly Parton Airport here in Nashville. We’re gonna show you what the experience is like getting picked up and dropped off with a Waymo. We’re going to and from the airport. So far we’ll say it is a two minute and 20 minute walk from the doors to the dedicated Waymo spot here in D1. The Waymo ride was $10 less than Uber and Lyft. This spot’s frankly probably the most convenient here in the airport.

This is the Waymo Nashville Airport field report. From the moment we ordered the Waymo, which you can see it is pulling up now, was nine minutes. That’s all it took was nine minutes to order the Waymo. And let’s look into the numbers, ’cause that’s what we do here at The Road to Autonomy. The same ride to the Ryman Auditorium on UberX would have been $32.94 with an eight-minute wait. Wanna upgrade and take Comfort? That’ll be $37.98 with an eight-minute wait. Wanna try Comfort Electric? $37.98 with a 10-minute wait. D

o you wanna flex and upgrade to an Uber Black SUV? That would be $65.97 with a five-minute wait. Lyft, prices are very similar. $39.96 for a standard vehicle. Extra comfort, $45.96. That’s six minutes wait for extra comfort, and standard also had six minutes waits. Traveling with a group, you want to upgrade to XL, $57.96. Well, you’re in a rush like most of us are, upgrade to priority pickup with Lyft. It’ll be there in four minutes, $39.96. The Waymo ride, $25.45. The Waymo ride is roughly over $10 cheaper than the UberX.

And why is that important? Because the Waymo offers a consistent experience No matter if you’re getting picked up at the airport or on the curb. The one advantage that Uber and Lyft has today, their vehicles go on the highways in Nashville. The Waymo does not. Our ride into downtown Nashville was roughly 35 minutes. Not bad. We didn’t mind the drive. We saw some scenic stuff, and okay, so it took roughly, let’s say, 10 to 12 minutes longer.

What is that worth when you have a consistent experience? What is that worth when you can crank up the music and enjoy your time? What’s that worth if you wanna go to RCA Studio B on Music Row and sing your heart out? Why might you wanna go there? It’s the home of the Thousand Hits. Also, it’s the birth place of the Nashville Sound.

Perhaps you want to capture that sound and capture that vibe and put out a hit record. You never know. Well, that was the pickup at the Nashville International Airport, and we gotta say it was easy-peasy. The walk from the doors we said earlier was roughly two minutes. Two minutes and 20 secs to be exact to get to the dedicated spot at D1.

The Waymo experience was great. Came out of the airport and nobody asked me, “What are you getting into?” So that was interesting, ’cause sometimes in newer markets you do get questions, but overall, really, really great experience. No highway access yet for anybody yet. No early riders, but it is an awesome, awesome experience here. point out a few things, that there are four dedicated spots for Waymo to pick up passengers at any one given time.

So clearly it works, and they’re planning to scale it. And you wanna know the other interesting part about the D1 spot? You don’t have the Uber and Lyft congestion. You are on the outside lane. That’s right, in and out. To my father-in-law, Waymo’s got the pole position at the Nashville Airport. So far, so great. We weren’t kidding when you told you that we went through back roads and we didn’t take the highways.

You could see we’re in the country. And what’s that coming down the road? No, it’s not an alien. That’s the Waymo Ohi. Ohi, Waymo. One thing that we’ve noticed on our journey from the Nashville Airport is there is a lot more Waymos in Nashville than the market is currently pricing, and that’s right We’ve seen close to a dozen Waymos, 11 Jags, one Ojai, and Charlie Brown, the pumpkin.

There’s a pumpkin Jaguar floating around Nashville. We’re gonna try and get a ride in that today. But the market’s not pricing in the amount of vehicles that are here in the Nashville market. It is our assumption it is a lot larger than the market appears. Wait times are great, sub-10 minutes to the airport, which is fantastic.

This is gonna be a very, very big market for Waymo, and when you’re here and you’re riding in, turn on a little Nashville Skyline by Bob Dylan and let the Nashville mood set in. That Nashville mood’s obviously setting in with us. We’re talking about the famous RCA Studio B, and now we’re talking about Nashville Skyline.

Why is that relevant? Nashville Skyline was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee between February 13th and February 18th, 1969. In fact, it was Bob Dylan’s ninth studio album and his first full immersion into country music. Well, it’s been a great day in Nashville. We’re heading back to the Nashville International Airport. We’re gonna film that, but I just gotta say, I am pumped to get the pumpkin. We got the pumpkin Waymo on our way back to the Nashville International Airport. Here it is.

Our ride back to the Nashville International Airport was seamless. We went back to the airport roughly after PM. The ride, yes, we went through those little roads we showed you earlier, but the ride was smooth. The pumpkin, no, it didn’t turn into a jack-o-lantern. It didn’t pull a Disney Halloween trick. It got us to the airport.

The Nashville International Airport is laid out in a very friendly way. It’s a easy driving environment, and no, I’m not saying it’s easy for the Waymo. I’m saying for the human driver, the way that the officials design the airport, and overall it’s a really, really good, simple airport. And unlike in San Antonio, there were no 15 mile an hour zones. The Waymo went with the flow of traffic. We didn’t see the miles per hour signs, raising the question which we believe, and we have no confirmation, that Waymos are individually tuned to each market Perhaps the Nashville market is more advanced for the testing they’ve been doing at the BNA Airport than San Antonio because the ride to the airport was smoother.

And on our pickup and our drop-off at the airport, we got the Jaguar I-PACEs. No Ohais. And yes, as you, the audience know, we do like to count things here. We did not count one Ojai at the airport. Perhaps the Ohais are not being used for the airport yet. We do not know. We do not have independent confirmation on that. But what we did see, we only saw Jaguars. No matter the Jaguar or the Ojai, the experience is a really, really great experience. And when you’re in Nashville, and if you get into that Nashville sound and you want to make a beeline to RCA Studio B, or if you’re not in the mood to record music and you want to learn about music, we’d highly recommend the Country Hall of Fame. It’s a really great immersive way to get a true understanding of the Nashville sound.

Here we are. We’re getting ready to approach the drop-off zone. As we turn the bend, look to your left. You will notice several drop-off lanes. Those are for Uber and Lyft. The outer lane, that’s where we’re going. I call it the VIP lane. However you want to use the term, it’s got the best pole position. Watch as the Waymo pulls up Right in front of the shuttle buses, and here we are.

Oh, what is that? That’s a Jaguar I-PACE. It’s not an Ojai. Simple, simple drop-off. And that’s the drop-off at Waymo at the Nashville International Airport. As you can see, we got the pumpkin. It was pumpkin awesome. Happy Halloween. This is the Road to Autonomy field report live from Nashville. The future is bright. The future is autonomous. The future is Waymo at airports.

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