Waymo announced on Tuesday that it is expanding its robotaxi service to Washington, D.C., adding the capital to its growing list of U.S. markets. However, passengers will have to wait until next year for fully driverless rides in the city.
For now, Waymo’s robotaxis will continue to map the streets of Washington with a safety driver behind the wheel. This precaution is required by local regulations in the District of Columbia, ensuring that the driver can take control if necessary.
Waymo has been testing its robotaxis in Washington since late January after conducting a brief trial run in the city last year. As the vehicles continue to learn the city’s layout, Waymo executives are optimistic about working with regulators to enable fully autonomous rides next year via the Waymo One app.
“We’re thrilled to offer the comfort, reliability, and safety of Waymo One to the people of Washington, D.C., including those who live and work in the city, as well as the millions of visitors who come to the District each year,” said Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana in a blog post.
If Waymo’s plans succeed, Washington and Miami will join four other U.S. cities next year where its robotaxis are already operating—Phoenix, Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Austin, Texas, as part of a partnership with Uber. Waymo and Uber are also collaborating to launch robotaxi services in Atlanta later this year.
What started as a groundbreaking experiment in Phoenix and San Francisco has now become a familiar sight in the cities where Waymo operates. The company reports that by the end of last year, it had completed over 4 million driverless rides for paying customers and is currently averaging 200,000 paid trips each week.
Waymo has positioned itself as the leader in driverless technology, while competitors scramble to catch up. Amazon and Tesla are preparing to launch their own robotaxi services in various U.S. cities, and Lyft has announced plans to introduce robotaxi options in Atlanta and Dallas.
Waymo’s early success in the emerging robotaxi market serves as validation for a technology that started as a secret project within Google in 2009. It was eventually spun off into its own company under Alphabet Inc. in 2016.