Waymo Begins Road Trials in London, Moves Toward Paid Robotaxi Service

Waymo has started running its self-driving cars on London streets with trained staff behind the wheel as it prepares to bring a paid, driverless taxi option to the city once regulators approve full autonomous operation.

The Alphabet-owned company confirmed this week that it has begun on-road autonomous testing across roughly 100 square miles of London, using a fleet of about 100 all-electric Jaguar I-Pace vehicles fitted with its driving system. For now, Waymo personnel sit in the driver’s seat to monitor performance and step in if needed, while engineers continue to refine the software for U.K. traffic and signage. The trials follow an earlier phase in which staff drove the cars manually to build detailed maps of the city.

Waymo said it is recruiting locally and setting up several support centers around London, and that it has been coordinating with emergency services as it expands operations in the U.K. A company spokesman told reporters the next milestone will depend on the government completing its trial regulations, and that Waymo plans to keep working with regulators to make the service available to as many Londoners as possible once approvals are in place.

The move builds on Waymo’s previous investments in Britain. The firm acquired a small Oxford-based simulation startup in 2019 and later opened an engineering hub there to tap local talent and research. Globally, Waymo operates thousands of robotaxis across a number of U.S. cities and has been testing in other international markets, including Tokyo. The automaker has also experimented with different vehicle platforms and could expand its London fleet as testing progresses.

London will not be without rivals. U.K. startup Wayve and ride-hailing giant Uber have announced plans for a fully driverless service in the capital, and a separate tie-up involving Nissan aims to pilot robotaxis in Tokyo. Those competitors, alongside Waymo, face the same hurdle: final government approval for hands-off operation and satisfactory public safety outcomes.

Transport experts say the coming months will be critical for public acceptance and regulatory clarity. “Demonstrations on real streets help engineers spot issues that simulations miss, but regulators and residents need clear evidence the systems can handle city driving reliably,” said a transportation researcher at a London university. If approvals move swiftly, Waymo is expected to shift from staff-only trials to limited driverless runs and staged rollouts — first to company employees, then to the public — with an eye on launching a commercial service in the next year.