Waymo, the US self-driving car company owned by Alphabet, says driverless taxis could start operating in the UK as early as September.
Waymo said it plans to launch a pilot robotaxi service in London in April, with the aim of carrying paying passengers later in the year once regulations allow. The UK government has said it plans to introduce new rules to enable fully autonomous taxi services in the second half of 2026, but has not yet confirmed a specific start date.
Local Transport Minister Lilian Greenwood said the government was actively supporting trials.
“We support Waymo and other operators through our passenger pilots and innovation-friendly regulations to make self-driving cars a reality on UK roads,” she said.
Waymo unveiled a fleet of its autonomous vehicles at London’s Transport Museum this week. The cars are currently driven by safety drivers as they map the streets of London, but when the service opens to the public there will no longer be a human behind the wheel.
Greenwood said autonomous vehicles have the potential to improve road safety. “Unlike human drivers, automated vehicles do not get tired, become distracted or drive under the influence of alcohol,” she said, adding that strict standards would continue to apply, including protections against hacker attacks and cyber threats.
The government estimates that the autonomous vehicle sector could contribute £42 billion to the UK economy by 2035 and create almost 40,000 jobs.
Waymo’s robotaxis will be called via an app, but the initial service will not include airport transfers. The company said prices would be “competitive but premium,” with rates rising during peak demand.
Waymo vehicles use a combination of lidar, cameras, radar and microphones to create a 360-degree view of their surroundings. The company says they can detect hazards up to three football fields away, even in bad weather. A high-performance computer processes the data in real time to control the vehicle’s movements.
Waymo’s UK plans come amid growing competition. Uber and Lyft have also signaled they are ready to launch robotaxi services as soon as UK regulations change, and are both working with Chinese tech company Baidu.
Waymo says its vehicles have traveled more than 173 million miles fully autonomously, mostly in the US, where the company already operates around 1,000 robotaxis in San Francisco and 700 in Los Angeles. However, there were isolated reports of technical malfunctions, including rare cases in which passengers were temporarily unable to exit the vehicle.
If approved, a London launch would be one of the most significant steps yet to bring large-scale autonomous transport to UK roads.
