Waymo’s robotaxis are set to come to Philadelphia, but you won't be able to ride in them soon. The Alphabet-owned self-driving car company confirmed it would be bringing vehicles for mapping and testing to Philadelphia soon.
Waymo confirmed the news on social network X where it said, “This city is a National Treasure. It’s a city of love, where eagles fly with a gritty spirit and cheese that spreads and cheese that steaks. Our road trip continues to Philly next.”
According to CNBC, a spokesperson for Waymo confirmed all vehicles will have safety drivers behind the wheel for emergencies and complicated routes. The testing is to generate mapping data to begin the process of adapting Waymo's tech to Philadelphia's roads.
“Folks will see our vehicles driving at all hours throughout various neighborhoods, from North Central to Eastwick, and from University City to as far east as the Delaware River,” a Waymo spokesperson told CNBC.
This broader testing will likely last a while as the brand confirms how to handle the area in its self-driving cars.
Waymo recently returned to New York for a second wave of testing after initially driving routes in 2021. Four years of intermittent testing in NYC may be a sign that the wait for a full rollout in Philadelphia could still be years away.
In January, Waymo confirmed in an interview with The Verge that it planned to begin testing in 10 new cities before the end of the year. At the time, the brand confirmed Las Vegas and San Diego were on its list of targets. Both of those cities now have ongoing tests.
Waymo's driverless cars are in Austin, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and San Francisco with plans to expand to Miami and Washington, DC next up on the list.
Waymo's rival Tesla debuted its long-awaited robotaxi service last month. The service began in Austin, Texas in a limited capacity with around 20 vehicles on the roads and a safety monitor riding in the passenger seat of every vehicle.