Waymo, the self-driving car company owned by tech giant Alphabet (GOOGL), announced on Thursday that it will soon begin testing its robotaxi vehicles with human drivers in Minneapolis, Tampa, and New Orleans. These test drives are part of the company’s plan to bring its fully driverless service to those cities as early as 2026. A Waymo spokesperson said that the company will wait to see how well its technology performs in each city before officially committing to a launch, with safety remaining the top priority.
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If these cities are added, Waymo’s 2026 expansion plan would grow to 15 markets. Furthermore, earlier this week, the company stated that it would soon begin operating driverless vehicles in five new cities: Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Miami, and Orlando. Public rides in those locations are expected to begin next year. Waymo has already announced plans to expand to other cities like Detroit, Denver, Las Vegas, Nashville, San Diego, Washington, D.C., and London. These are in addition to current services in places like Austin, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and the San Francisco Bay Area.
Interestingly, Waymo has completed over 10 million paid rides since its launch in 2020. Moreover, just last week, it began offering freeway trips in San Francisco, Phoenix, and Los Angeles. This is an important step due to the difficulty of operating safely at high speeds. Now, the company is preparing to test its vehicles in colder climates. By adding Minneapolis, Waymo is targeting markets with tough winter conditions like snow and ice. The company says it already runs vehicles in freezing temperatures and plans to start with small fleets that grow over time.
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