Waymo stated Tuesday it should start providing robotaxi rides by way of the Waymo One app in  Washington D.C. in 2026.

Earlier than it could launch commercially, the corporate should up its lobbying recreation within the capitol, the place autonomous automobile permits nonetheless require a human behind the wheel. 

The information from Waymo comes because the Alphabet-owned firm aggressively expands its robotaxi protection to cement its lead forward of potential rivals like Amazon’s Zoox and Elon Musk’s Tesla. Musk stated Tesla will launch a robotaxi service in Austin this summer season and California sooner or later this 12 months. 

Waymo already operates a industrial service in Phoenix, Los Angeles, the Bay Space, and extra lately Austin, in partnership with ride-hail firm Uber. Waymo additionally intends to launch a robotaxi service by way of Uber in Atlanta this 12 months, and has already begun ferrying staff in totally autonomous autos within the metropolis. Miami is subsequent on Waymo’s public launch checklist for 2026, alongside D.C.

To boost much more enthusiasm and consciousness, Waymo has stated it plans to start mapping in 10 cities this 12 months, together with Las Vegas, San Diego, and, as of Monday, Nashville. 

Waymo’s D.C. announcement comes two months after the corporate launched a small take a look at fleet of its Jaguar I-Tempo robotaxis within the metropolis, the place it’s been driving manually and testing autonomously with a security driver behind the wheel. 

Waymo’s enterprise mannequin is contingent upon eradicating the human driver from the automobile. The corporate stated it should work with policymakers to replace the district’s allowing guidelines to permit for totally autonomous autos to drive on public roads.