Waymo, the autonomous vehicle company owned by Alphabet, has announced plans to bring its driverless taxi service to Washington, DC in 2026. The expansion would make the nation's capital the latest city to host Waymo's growing robotaxi network.
Before launching commercial operations, Waymo faces a key regulatory hurdle - DC currently requires autonomous vehicles to have human safety drivers behind the wheel. The company says it will work with local policymakers to update regulations to allow fully driverless vehicles on public roads.
Initial testing has already begun, with Waymo's manually-driven vehicles spotted in neighborhoods like Dupont Circle, Foggy Bottom, and Penn Quarter since last year. The company is gathering data and familiarizing itself with DC's unique transportation landscape, which includes some of the worst traffic congestion in the United States.
The planned DC launch is part of Waymo's broader expansion across major U.S. cities. The company currently operates driverless rides in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Phoenix, providing approximately 200,000 passenger trips weekly through its Waymo One app. Recent partnerships with Uber have brought service to Austin, with Atlanta slated to follow later this year.
"We'll continue introducing ourselves to DC's communities and emergency responders over the coming months," Waymo stated in its announcement. The company enters DC following its strong performance in 2024, during which it completed over 4 million paid autonomous rides.
DC has previously hosted autonomous vehicle testing from other companies, including the now-defunct Cruise and Argo AI. Waymo aims to differentiate itself through its safety record, citing insurance data showing fewer accidents and injuries compared to human drivers.
The move to establish service in the heart of the federal government comes as national regulations for autonomous vehicles remain largely undeveloped. While federal legislation has stalled in Congress for years, individual states and cities continue setting their own rules for AV deployment.
Waymo has not yet disclosed how many vehicles it plans to operate in DC or which specific neighborhoods will be included in its service area when operations begin in 2026.