Waymo is testing self-driving cars in Philadelphia

Waymo, the autonomous driving division of Alphabet, has started testing its self-driving vehicles on the streets of Philadelphia. The company is currently in the data-gathering and mapping phase, using vehicles operated by human safety drivers as it evaluates the city’s roads and traffic patterns. This marks Waymo’s latest step in expanding its robotaxi footprint beyond the West and South.

While there’s no timeline yet for commercial launch in Philadelphia, the testing suggests the city could be among the next wave of service areas.

Waymo currently operates fully autonomous ride-hailing services in five cities:

• Phoenix, Arizona
• San Francisco Bay Area, California
• Los Angeles, California
• Austin, Texas (via Uber)
• Atlanta, Georgia (via Uber)

Additional cities, including Miami and Washington, D.C., are expected to be added soon. As Waymo continues to scale, Philadelphia joins a growing list of U.S. cities preparing for the rollout of autonomous mobility.