Waymo plans to launch Robotaxi in Washington, DC in 2026

Waymo announced that Washington, DC, will be the next Robotaxi city. The company aims to launch the Waymo One Ridehalding service in the Capitol in the country in 2026 – although it recognized that it will first need to change the city’s law that prohibits completely independent vehicles without safety drivers.

Currently, companies that want to test autonomous vehicles in the capital have a human driver behind the wheel in the event of an error. Technology defenders were pressing the city The Council to reduce the restrictions imposed on allowing autonomous vehicles on public roads. A spokesman for the Capital Transport Administration did not immediately respond to the comment.

The vehicles owned by the alphabet were hand -owned It was monitored around the capital since last year. Waymo producer director told a local news outlet that the company is mainly focused on neighborhoods such as Dupont Netcher, Foggy Bottle and Penn Quarter. Waymo did not comment on the size of its service area, nor the neighborhoods that target it if it was launched next year.

The launch of the Robotaxi service in the heart of the federal government is a risk -fraught step. The Federal Reserve has occupied a large rear seat in organizing independent vehicles, leaving it to the states to develop their bases books for safe publication. The legislation, which would increase the number of AVS on the road He stopped in Congress for more than seven yearsWith the presence of legislators on a set of issues, including safety, responsibility and the correct number of exemptions from federal car safety standards.

But then, the capital is its own city with its transfer challenges. It has some of The worst traffic congestion in the United States Thanks to the constantly wealthy population and stagnant infrastructure. Waymo did not say the number of vehicles you intend to bring to the capital.

Waymo currently runs a driver Ridehalding in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Vinix. She recently launched a partnership with Uber in Austin, and plans to expand that deal to Atlanta later this year. It also plans to run robotics in the silicon and mimy valley.

In the capital, customers will use the company’s Ridehail app, Waymo One, to call vehicles without a driver. Waymo currently provides 200,000 passenger trips per week using the app.

Waymo markets itself as a safer option than a person drives. The company has Insurance data issued This indicates that its vehicles cause less damage to property and less physical injuries when they are disrupted by human drivers.