Waymo has announced its plan to include Washington, D.C., in its growing robotaxi service network, although residents and visitors will need to wait until next year for a driverless ride around the capital. Currently, Waymo’s autonomous vehicles will navigate the streets of Washington under strict regulations, with a safety driver onboard ready to intervene if needed.
Since late January, Waymo has been busy mapping the city with its robotaxis after conducting a brief initial trial last year. As these autonomous vehicles become accustomed to Washington’s geography, Waymo is optimistic about collaborating with regulators to enable completely driverless journeys by next year, accessible through their Waymo One app.
Co-CEO of Waymo, Tekedra Mawakana, expressed enthusiasm in a blog post, highlighting the benefits of Waymo One’s reliability and safety to the city’s residents, workers, tourists, and international visitors. Looking forward, Waymo aims to introduce its services to Miami and Washington next year. This expansion will add to its current operations in Phoenix, Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Austin, Texas. Additionally, together with Uber, Waymo plans to launch its service in Atlanta later this year.
This strategic expansion marks a significant milestone for Waymo, transforming its initial operations in Phoenix and San Francisco into regular occurrences in several cities. By the end of last year, the company had completed over 4 million driverless trips for paying customers and is currently maintaining a pace of 200,000 paid trips weekly. This positions Waymo as the leader in autonomous vehicle technology.
Other competitors, such as Amazon and Tesla, are preparing to introduce their own driverless services in various U.S. cities. Meanwhile, Lyft, another major player in the ride-hailing industry, has shared its plans to incorporate robotaxis into its offerings in Atlanta and Dallas.
The progress Waymo has achieved in the robotaxi sector validates a journey that started confidentially under Google’s umbrella in 2009 before transitioning in 2016 into an independent entity within Alphabet Inc. as Waymo.