Self-driving cars are slowly becoming less sci-fi and more real-world as companies like Waymo, the driverless arm of Google’s parent company Alphabet, expand into more cities — and countries.
On Wednesday, Waymo said it’ll begin driving its vehicles on Tokyo’s streets, making this the company’s first international location. Waymo announced the expansion in December, which is happening in partnership with Japanese taxi service Nihon Kotsu and taxi app Go. Now, the US-based company is finally ready to hit the road abroad.
Waymo says trained Nihon Kotsu drivers will manually drive its vehicles across seven Tokyo wards, including Minato, Shinjuku, Shibuya, Chiyoda, Chūō, Shinagawa and Kōtō. This will allow engineers to test and adapt Waymo’s autonomous driving tech to local road features and traffic.
“In Tokyo, we are abiding by the same steadfast principles that guide us in the US — commitment to safety, dedication to earning trust in communities where we operate, and collaboration with local officials and community groups here in Tokyo,” Nicole Gavel, Waymo’s head of business development and strategic partnerships, said in a statement.
Waymo currently operates fully autonomous rides for the general public in San Francisco, Phoenix, Los Angeles and Austin, Texas. In January, the company announced it would also begin testing with manually driven vehicles in 10 new cities this year, starting with Las Vegas and San Diego. It’s also slated to expand into Atlanta later this year through a partnership with Uber, and will begin offering rides in Washington, DC, through its Waymo One app starting in 2026.
Autonomous rides take place aboard the all-electric Jaguar I-Pace, but in October, Waymo announced it’s partnering with Hyundai to bring the next generation of its technology into Ioniq 5 SUVs. In the years to come, riders will be able to summon those all-electric, autonomous vehicles using the Waymo One app.
Waymo says it provides more than 200,000 paid trips each week. I’ve hailed several rides myself in San Francisco, and as off-putting as it can seem at first (especially to see a steering wheel turn by itself), I quickly adjusted and it soon felt like an ordinary ride.
That’s not to say there hasn’t been pushback as Waymo rolls out to more cities. The company’s vehicles have been involved in a handful of high-profile collisions, including one with a biker in San Francisco, and another with a towed pickup truck in Phoenix. (It recalled and updated its software to address the issue.) In response to concerns, Waymo says that across 14.8 million miles, its autonomous Waymo Driver technology “was up to 3.5x better in avoiding crashes that cause injuries and 2x better in avoiding police-reported crashes than human drivers in SF and Phoenix.” It also released a data hub last year, detailing efforts to improve road safety using its technology.
As Waymo continues to expand and develop its self-driving tech, here’s how and where to summon the robotaxi if you happen to be in one of the few cities where the company currently operates its fleet.
Watch this: Testing Waymo’s Safe Exit Feature in a Self-Driving Taxi
Hailing a ride in Phoenix
Phoenix was the first city to open up fully autonomous Waymo rides to the public, in 2020. To hail a ride, download the Waymo One app on iOS or Android. The service operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
You can also use the Uber app to summon one of Waymo’s vehicles in Phoenix. When you request an UberX, Uber Green, Uber Comfort or Uber Comfort Electric ride, you’ll have the choice to confirm a Waymo ride, if you’re matched.
In addition to hailing a ride, you may also have your Uber Eats meal delivered by an autonomous car. When placing an order in the Phoenix area, you might get a note that “autonomous vehicles may deliver your order.” When the Waymo car arrives, take your phone with you to pop open the trunk and grab your delivery. You can opt out of this during checkout if you’d rather have a human deliver your food.
Hailing a ride in San Francisco
San Francisco followed suit after Phoenix, rolling out fully autonomous rides in late 2022. It scrapped the waiting list in June, so now anyone can download the Waymo One app to ride anytime. The service also operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. There’s currently no Uber partnership in San Francisco.
In August, Waymo expanded its ride-hailing service into the San Francisco Peninsula, adding 10 square miles and venturing into Daly City, Broadmoor and Colma. And in March, it expanded again so that select Waymo One riders who live in Mountain View, Los Altos, Palo Alto and parts of Sunnyvale have the option to hail a robotaxi there, too. The company says it plans to expand to more riders there over time.
Hailing a ride in Los Angeles
In November, Waymo scrapped its waitlist for Los Angeles and began welcoming all public riders via the Waymo One app. Now any interested passengers can hop in the robotaxis 24/7 and ride across nearly 90 square miles of LA county, including Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Inglewood and Downtown LA — with plans to expand into more areas soon.
Hailing a ride in Austin
In Austin, the only way to hail a Waymo ride is through Uber — no Waymo One app here. By requesting an UberX, Uber Green, Uber Comfort or Uber Comfort Electric, you could be matched with a Waymo vehicle — and you won’t be upcharged. If you’d rather not take a driverless ride, you’ll have the option to switch to a standard one. On the other hand, if you want to boost your chances of being matched to a self-driving car, you can go to Account > Settings > Autonomous vehicles, then hit the toggle next to Get more Waymo rides.
Unlock the door, pop open the trunk and start the ride from the Uber app. You’ll still be asked to rate your ride at the end — but you won’t be asked to tip.
If there are any issues, riders can access human support 24/7 via both the Uber app and from inside the Waymo vehicle (there are screens in the front and back that let you quickly summon customer support).
As part of the Uber partnership, Uber will manage tasks like vehicle cleaning and repair, while “Waymo will continue to be responsible for the testing and operation of the Waymo Driver, including roadside assistance and certain rider support functions,” the companies said. The collaboration should make autonomous rides accessible to more people, who now won’t have to download a separate app to hitch a ride in a robotaxi.
Waymo currently operates across 37 square miles of the city, with plans for future expansions.
Coming soon: Atlanta, Washington, DC, and Miami
In Atlanta, public riders can catch a driverless ride via the Uber app starting in early 2025. Waymo employees are currently the only people in Atlanta who can hail the fully autonomous vehicles.
Members of the public in Atlanta can join an interest list and be notified when it’s time to ride.
Meanwhile, Waymo is planning to begin offering rides in Washington, DC, in 2026. The company returned to the nation’s capital in January to test its autonomous driving tech. In late March, it said it was bringing more vehicles to the city and working to scale its service throughout the year. In a blog post, Waymo said it’ll “continue to work closely with policymakers to formalize the regulations needed to operate without a human behind the wheel in the District.”
You’ll also have to wait until 2026 to ride a Waymo in Miami. The company has been conducting weather testing in the lead-up to that eventual rollout, noting in a blog post, “Our previous road trips to the Sunshine State’s challenging rainy conditions have been invaluable in advancing our autonomous driving capabilities.”
Waymo will collaborate with Moove, a fintech company that offers vehicle financing, first in Phoenix, where Moove will manage the robotaxi’s fleet operations, facilities and charging infrastructure. In both Phoenix and then Miami, “Waymo will continue to offer our service through the Waymo One app, and remain responsible for validation and operation of the Waymo Driver,” the company said in a blog post.
The road ahead: Future vehicles
In August, Waymo unveiled the sixth generation of its self-driving technology, which aims to expand the capabilities of its driverless fleet. Smarter sensors are meant to help the cars better navigate in extreme weather, Waymo said. The sixth-gen Driver will come aboard the all-electric Zeekr vehicle, which features a flat floor, more head- and legroom, adjustable seats and a removable steering wheel and pedals. The updated tech is still being tested, and the company says it’ll be available to riders soon.
In October, Waymo also announced a partnership with Hyundai to integrate its sixth-generation Driver into the all-electric Ioniq 5 SUV, which, according to a blog post, “will be added to the Waymo One fleet over time.” The companies added that they “plan to produce a fleet of Ioniq 5s equipped with Waymo’s technology in significant volume over multiple years to support Waymo One’s growing scale.” Testing with these vehicles will start by late 2025 and become available “in the years to follow.”
Currently, everyday riders can’t take a Waymo vehicle on highways and freeways, but that may soon change. The company is testing fully autonomous rides on freeways in Phoenix, as seen in an exclusive video shared with CNET in May. It’s also now making fully autonomous freeway rides available to Waymo employees in Los Angeles.
Waymo is working to expand its autonomous driving tech into trucking as well, but it said last year that it’s scaling back those efforts for the time being, to focus on ride-hailing with Waymo One. It noted, “Our ongoing investment in advancing Waymo Driver capabilities, especially on freeways, will directly translate to trucking and benefit its development efforts.”
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