Robotaxis: Waymo doubles the number of journeys in just one year

Waymo's robotaxis are now driving 200,000 times a week, meaning that the company has doubled its weekly journeys in less than a year. This was announced by Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai on X. The driverless cabs are on the road in San Francisco, Phoenix and Los Angeles. The company plans to expand to Austin, Atlanta and Miami soon or is already in the process of carrying out its first test drives. The first international location, Tokyo, is to follow in 2026.

In its final report for 2024, the company still spoke of 150,000 weekly journeys. In August 2024, according to Waymo Co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana, the figure was 100,000 trips per week and just 10,000 a year earlier. The number has therefore increased twenty-fold in less than two years and is expected to rise even further as more cities are opened up.

Not everything is perfect

However, there are also repeated reports of accidents involving the driverless cabs. For example, one of the vehicles hit a cyclist in San Francisco, while another had to be stopped by the police when it was driving the wrong way in Phoenix. A similar incident, in which the car drove into oncoming traffic, also occurred in San Francisco.

However, according to an analysis carried out by Waymo itself, the accident figures are very low on the whole. In contrast to humans, robotaxis are said to cause 88 percent less property damage and 92 percent less personal injury. Over a distance of 25.3 million miles (approx. 40.7 million kilometers), Waymo itself recorded only eleven accidents, while human drivers would be expected to have 104 accidents over the same distance.

Tested on site

Jan-Keno Janssen and his colleagues from c't 3003 tested one of Waymo's cabs in Los Angeles. They were there in January as part of CES 2024 and took a look at how the system works and how comfortable it really is for passengers.

(tlz)