Autonomous vehicle company Waymo plans to launch its Waymo One ride hailing service in Washington D.C. by 2026. However, in order to do that, they first need to change the city law prohibiting fully autonomous vehicles without safety drivers.
Currently, companies testing autonomous vehicles in the District are required to have a human driver behind the steering wheel in case something goes wrong. Tech advocates are currently pressing the city council to loosen this restriction.
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A Waymo product manager told a local news outlet that the company was primarily focused on neighborhoods like Dupont Circle, Foggy Bottom, and Penn Quarter. Waymo has not commented on the size of its service area nor which neighborhoods it is targeting if it launches next year.
Launching an autonomous ride hailing service in the heart of the federal government offices comes with a number of challenges. Legislation on dramatically increasing the number of AVs on the road has been stalled in Congress for over seven years with lawmakers at odds over a range of issues, including safety, liability, and the right number of exemptions from federal motor vehicle safety standards. D.C. also has the some of the worst traffic congestion in the country.
As of now, Waymo operates its robotaxi services in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Phoenix. Just this month, the service has also launched in Austin, Texas via a partnership with Uber. Waymo now operates within a 37-square-mile area in Austin, which includes Hyde Park, Downtown, Montopolis, and other “popular destinations.”
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Waymo, formerly known as the “Google Self-Driving Car Project,” entered into a partnership with Uber two years ago. The former rivals joined forces in an attempt to make the transition to autonomous vehicles a reality. The Uber-Waymo service would be launched in Atlanta next, the company’s statement said.
In competition with Waymo, Elon Musk’s Tesla has been looking to launch its autonomous taxi services. Earlier this year, the Tesla CEO that his company will launch a paid ride-hailing robotaxi service in Austin, Texas using its own fleet vehicles in June 2025.