Do People Tip in Waymo and Other Robotaxis? A Look at Tipping Culture in Autonomous Ride-Hailing

As robotaxis like Waymo One, Cruise, and others expand across U.S. cities, a new social question has emerged: should you tip a self-driving car? The arrival of autonomous vehicles (AVs) in the ride-hailing industry challenges long-established service norms, including tipping—an ingrained practice in American transportation culture. While some companies have implemented digital tipping interfaces in their robotaxis, early data and customer feedback suggest that the norm is still unsettled.

Tipping in Waymo: Optional but Encouraged

Waymo, a subsidiary of Alphabet, operates fully autonomous robotaxi services in cities like Phoenix, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. In December 2023, Waymo began offering an in-app tipping feature to some users, allowing riders to voluntarily tip between $2 and $20 after a ride. The tips, however, do not go to the car (which has no human operator) but to support staff—primarily the remote fleet assistance team that handles edge-case interventions, vehicle maintenance, and customer service.

Despite the feature’s availability, tipping in Waymo is far from universal. According to early user behavior reported by Waymo, only a minority of riders leave tips. This is consistent with expectations: unlike human drivers, AVs do not rely on gratuities as part of their compensation structure. There’s also no social pressure, a key psychological driver of tipping behavior, since there is no driver in the vehicle to create interpersonal dynamics.

Cruise and Others: No Tipping, for Now

Cruise, owned by General Motors, paused its public operations in late 2023 after a safety incident in San Francisco, but it previously did not offer any tipping options in its app. Neither did Zoox (an Amazon-owned company), Motional (a joint venture between Hyundai and Aptiv), or Baidu’s Apollo Go in China. Most of these companies position tipping as unnecessary or irrelevant, given the absence of service personnel onboard.

Some providers emphasize that their robotaxi services are priced to be all-inclusive, eliminating the need for gratuities. In some cases, tipping may also introduce regulatory or tax complexities, especially when it’s unclear who the recipient should be: a software team? A remote operator? The company itself?

Rider Behavior and Perceptions

For many riders, the absence of a human driver creates ambiguity around the purpose and ethics of tipping. While some early adopters report leaving tips as a gesture of appreciation or to support human staff behind the scenes, most do not. A 2024 survey of robotaxi users in Phoenix and San Francisco indicated that fewer than 15% routinely tipped, and over 50% said they weren’t sure whether tipping was appropriate in a driverless context.

The confusion is compounded by inconsistent implementations across services. Some riders are unaware that a tipping option exists at all, and others assume tipping is unnecessary since no individual is directly providing the service.

The Economics Behind the Question

In traditional ride-hailing, tips help supplement driver wages, which are often variable and dependent on trip volume, customer ratings, and surge pricing. Robotaxis, on the other hand, operate on different economics. AV companies bear high up-front costs in vehicle development, sensor technology, and software systems. Operating costs are often front-loaded but amortized over time as fleets scale.

Tipping, in this model, is not central to the labor equation. Most AV operators fund support personnel (remote vehicle operators, engineers, maintenance staff) through corporate payrolls rather than variable customer payments. However, introducing tipping may be seen as a way to foster goodwill, provide optional support for behind-the-scenes workers, and simulate the traditional ride-hailing experience.

Future of Tipping in Autonomous Transport

The future of tipping in robotaxis remains uncertain. As AVs become more mainstream, companies may standardize tipping interfaces or eliminate them altogether, depending on customer feedback and regulatory guidance. In the meantime, riders are left to decide for themselves whether a self-driving vehicle deserves a gratuity—and if so, who should receive it.

The tipping dilemma highlights broader questions about automation, labor, and social norms. As machines increasingly replace human roles, the customs built around human service may also need to evolve—or disappear entirely. For now, tipping in robotaxis is optional, rare, and still navigating the road to cultural clarity.