Waymo self-driving cars with roof-mounted sensor arrays traveling near palm trees and modern buildings along the Embarcadero, San Francisco, California, February 21, 2025.
Smith Collection/gado | Archive Photos | Getty Images
Waymo’s officially on its way to the nation’s capital.
The Alphabet-owned autonomous driving robotaxi service will be available in Washington, D.C., in 2026, the company announced Tuesday.
“I’ve experienced firsthand how safely the Waymo Driver operates around pedestrians, cyclists, and other vulnerable road users,” said Governors Highway Safety Association CEO Jonathan Adkins. “Waymo has worked with GHSA and our first responder network as they’ve expanded their service, always putting safety first. As someone who walks to work almost every day, I’m excited to share the road with Waymo in Washington, D.C.”
So far, Waymo One currently operates in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Silicon Valley and Phoenix, and is also driving in Austin and Atlanta through its partnership with Uber.
The expansion follows a dominating 2024 for Waymo, which completed more than 4 million paid autonomous rides last year as other robotaxi competitors still lagged in the churning market. Service in Miami will be also launched in 2026 through a partnership with startup Moove.io, a spokesperson told CNBC.
General Motors began shuttering its Cruise robotaxi service in December. Elon Musk’s Tesla still doesn’t manufacture a robotaxi or run a hailing service despite promising “robotaxi cars” for roughly a decade. Amazon’s Zoox is continuing road testing in multiple U.S. cities, with plans to start service in Las Vegas, then San Francisco.
Waymo declined to provide additional comment on the D.C. expansion.
The rollout will get underway through a series of road trips with the Waymo Driver. At first, test rides are operated manually by human drivers who give the company feedback and context about driving nuances in the city.
“We’ll continue introducing ourselves to D.C.’s communities and emergency responders over the coming months,” the company said in the release. “We’ll also continue to work closely with policymakers to formalize the regulations needed to operate without a human behind the wheel in the District.”
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to reflect that Waymo completed more than 4 million paid autonomous rides in 2024.
