It’s time for Waymo in the Windy City! Chicago is a city of culture, ambition, and an unyielding spirit of innovation, making it the perfect next stop for the World’s Most Experienced Driver™. We are excited to begin laying the early groundwork for our ride-hailing operations in Chicago, and look forward to serving the city in the future.

The Waymo Driver is a generalizable, AI-first technology designed to adapt to complex urban environments — from multi-lane expressways to dense city streets, including the demands of winter weather. Over 127 million fully autonomous miles, our technology has a proven safety record, demonstrating it is involved in up to 10x fewer serious injury or worse collisions and 12x fewer collisions with pedestrians compared to human drivers where we operate. This commitment to safety and reliability is what we plan to offer Chicago’s millions of residents and visitors, creating a new mobility option for the region.

We are coordinating closely with community leaders and policymakers and believe autonomous technology can strongly support Chicago’s goals for road safety and enhanced accessibility for all communities. We’re committed to being a partner in the city’s future, supporting economic growth and technological advancement.
“Chicago is leading the future of mobility by welcoming Waymo to begin initial mapping and manual testing in the city,” said Kam Buckner, Speaker Pro Tempore, Illinois House of Representatives. “This progress is a vital step toward safer streets and more accessible transportation for all our neighborhoods. By embracing autonomous innovation, we are ensuring Illinois remains the premier hub for 21st-century growth. I look forward to working with Waymo to safely introduce this technology to our communities”

“Roadway safety across all of Illinois is quite simply one of the most important issues today,” said Erin Doherty, Regional Executive Director, Mothers Against Drunk Driving Illinois. “Autonomous vehicles hold the exciting promise of preventing deaths and injuries caused by behavioral factors, including impaired driving, if deployed responsibly and safely and in collaboration with the right community and city stakeholders. We welcome Waymo into these new communities as another tool in the toolbox to end impaired driving.”

Ready to experience Waymo in Chicago? Sign up for updates and be among the first to ride when we’re ready: waymo.com/updates.

Charlotte blends its historic charm with North Carolina’s economic dynamism. Uptown – the city’s sports hub – is surrounded by vibrant neighborhoods, from South End with its breweries and restaurants to the arts of NoDa. The Queen City is constantly redefining itself, and it’s this same forward-looking culture that makes us thrilled to announce Waymo’s intention to bring our safe, magic, fully autonomous ride-hailing to Charlotte, North Carolina.

“Wherever North Carolinians are traveling, safe and reliable transportation is essential,” said North Carolina Governor Josh Stein. “We are eager to see how Waymo’s expansion into Charlotte can increase accessibility, modernize transportation, and create safer roads.”

“Charlotte is a world-class city that embraces innovation and the opportunity to move forward,” said Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles. “This announcement reflects our tireless dedication for expanded mobility, and we believe Charlotte is an excellent choice for Waymo’s next destination.”

Our generalizable Waymo Driver is informed by its experience over 200 million fully autonomous miles and more than 20 million rides served. While every city has its own character and traffic quirks, the Waymo Driver is able to safely handle a diverse and growing number of new environments. At the same time as it delivers a more reliable and trustworthy mobility option for communities across the U.S., the data from 127 million miles of fully autonomous driving shows the Waymo Driver was involved in 10x fewer serious injury or worse crashes and 12x fewer pedestrian injury crashes compared to human drivers where we operate.

“For people who are blind or have low vision, reliable transportation isn’t just a convenience — it’s access to employment, education, healthcare, and community life,” said Sandi Owens, President of the North Carolina Council of the Blind. “The arrival of Waymo’s autonomous vehicle testing in Charlotte represents an exciting step toward expanding safe, independent mobility options. Technology like this has the potential to reduce barriers, increase flexibility, and give people greater control over when and how they travel. We’re excited to partner with Waymo as this technology is introduced in our community.”

We’re excited for our service to complement Charlotte’s transportation system, and to learn more about how we can support the city’s goals. Ready to experience Waymo in Charlotte? Sign up for updates and be among the first to ride when we’re ready: waymo.com/updates.

Advice, not control: the role of Remote Assistance in Waymo’s operations

Our mission at Waymo is to be the world’s most trusted driver, and we are committed to earning the public’s trust through transparency and proven road safety outcomes. As we expand around the world, we are investing in an operations team that matches our global scale, including U.S.-based operations personnel and global operations teams, to ensure seamless, safe, 24/7 operations worldwide.

In 2024 we published a detailed outline describing how our Remote Assistance (RA) works. Though some have compared the function to aircraft dispatch, based on my decade as a U.S. Naval aviator flying F-14s and F/A-18s, I can firmly say that analogy is wrong. Aircraft dispatch is responsible for active flight monitoring, weather routing, and mechanical oversight for the duration of a journey.

Waymo’s service does not rely on remote drivers. RA does not continuously monitor a vehicle or set of vehicles. Instead, they respond to specific requests for information initiated by the Waymo Driver – our automated driving system (ADS) – and provide advice which the system can decide to use or reject. Our vehicle-to-RA connection is also as fast as the blink of an eye. Median one-way latency is approximately 150 milliseconds for U.S. based operations centers and 250 milliseconds for RA based abroad.

Waymo RA is composed of different functions, including our Event Response Team (ERT) which is exclusively based in the U.S. Waymo’s ERT is certified for more complex tasks like coordinating with emergency responders and managing post-collision protocols.

Despite differences in role and responsibilities, all RA agents must have and maintain driver’s licenses and are rigorously vetted, including a comprehensive review of their driving history, thorough criminal background checks, initial and ongoing drug testing, and color blindness and spatial recognition assessments. As of February 17, 2026, there are approximately 70 Remote Assistance agents on duty worldwide at any given time, including ERT. For context, Waymo currently has a fleet of 3,000 vehicles. Every week, our vehicles drive over four million miles and provide over 400,000 rides.

Waymo is committed to safety and transparency, and we’ll continue to work with lawmakers and regulators around the world as we scale our service globally. To learn more about how RA works at Waymo, you can view our letter to Congress here.

In America’s 250th year, we’re excited to return to Boston – one of the nation’s oldest cities – to build on insights from last year’s road trip as we lay the groundwork for serving Bostonians in the future.

We learned a lot from last year’s visit, and we’re excited to continue effectively adapting to Boston’s cobblestones, narrow alleyways, roundabouts and turnpikes. We’re also validating our 6th-generation Waymo Driver across some of the snowiest cities in the country to support fully autonomous operations in a wide range of winter weather, so Massachusetts residents and visitors can have an even more dependable way to get around.

Before offering fully autonomous rides to Bostonians, we’ll first need the state to legalize fully autonomous vehicles. We’re looking forward to engaging with officials to inform that path. By legalizing this safety-enhancing technology, Massachusetts can bring additional safety, greater accessibility, and new career opportunities to the Commonwealth.

“Our goal is to create a clear and consistent framework to ensure that any new technology on our roads meets established safety standards,” said Massachusetts State Representative Dan Cahill, Chairman of the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security. “I look forward to continuing discussions with various stakeholders and local communities as we update our transportation laws in a thoughtful and practical way.”

We’ll also prioritize constructive dialogue with Boston’s communities. We share many of Boston’s goals—supporting local needs, improving road safety and accessibility, and keeping Boston the “Hub of the Universe.” We are eager to connect with more residents and organizations for conversations about how we can advance their priorities and get them where they’re going safely.

“For those of us who are blind or low-vision, transportation is consistently one of the biggest barriers to being part of the greater Boston community,” said David Kingsbury, President of Bay State Council of the Blind. “The arrival of Waymo promises safer, more accessible transportation that will not discriminate, and will offer greater independence and greater convenience to thousands of Bostonians. We strongly support Waymo coming to Boston, and can’t wait to ride.”

Want to help bring Waymo to Boston and experience a new way of getting around? Join us at waymo.com/updates.

Waymo is headed to Sacramento! As California’s capital and a growing center for progress, Sacramento’s spirit of innovation makes it the perfect next step for our expansion. We are eager to bring the future of mobility to this vibrant community, connecting its historic landmarks with its modern neighborhoods.

Starting this week, we’ll begin manually driving a fleet of our all-electric Jaguar I-PACE vehicles around the Capital City. This initial phase allows the Waymo Driver to get to know Sacramento’s unique dynamics—from tree-lined avenues to busy downtown corridors—as we prepare to welcome public riders in the future. We’ll follow the same step-by-step approach we’ve taken in the six major cities that we currently operate in, and work closely with state and city leaders to ensure our service meets the diverse needs of Sacramento’s residents and the thousands of visitors who walk its historic blocks every day.

Our expansion aligns with Sacramento’s ambitious Vision Zero goals to eliminate traffic fatalities and serious injuries. The data to date shows Waymo is improving road safety where it operates, and we look forward to supporting the city’s mission of creating safer streets for everyone.

“As Sacramento grows, so does our need for safe, reliable transportation,” said Kevin McCarty, Mayor of Sacramento. “We’re excited to work with Waymo to expand mobility options that are designed with safety at their core. By offering new ways to move around the Capital City, we’re providing our residents with more choice while staying focused on our goal of making every street safer for everyone.”

Ready to experience Waymo in Sacramento? Sign up for updates and be among the first to ride when we’re ready: waymo.com/updates.

Today, February 4, Waymo’s Chief Safety Officer Dr. Mauricio Peña is honored to testify before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation regarding Waymo’s mission, our commitment to improving road safety, and data showing that we are making roads safer in the cities where we operate. He will also discuss the critical role of federal leadership in establishing National AV rules that ensure a safer, accessible, and competitive future for American transportation. Read Mauricio’s written statement here.