Alphabet owned self driving company Waymo plans to begin testing its autonomous vehicles in Munich in the coming weeks, ahead of a planned commercial ride hailing service in Germany toward the end of 2027. The company will initially drive the vehicles manually to map local roads and test its technology with trained autonomous specialists.
Alphabet-owned self-driving technology company Waymo plans to begin testing its autonomous vehicles in Munich, Germany, in the coming weeks, as it prepares for a commercial ride-hailing service that it aims to launch toward the end of 2027.
Waymo said the initial testing will involve manually driven vehicles used to map Munich's roads and gather information about local driving conditions. Trained autonomous specialists will be behind the wheel during this phase.
The company said the testing period will help its autonomous driving system adapt to Munich's road network and driving conditions before it moves toward fully autonomous operations. Waymo's German website says the company plans to take a phased approach, moving from manual mapping and validation driving to autonomous driving with trained local validation drivers before fully autonomous operations.
Waymo said its vehicles will operate across several Munich districts, including Altstadt-Lehel, Maxvorstadt, Schwabing-West, Au-Haidhausen, Bogenhausen and other areas. The company said driving will take place during both daytime and nighttime periods.
The planned Munich service would mark Waymo's expansion into Germany as the company seeks to build its autonomous ride-hailing business outside the United States. Waymo said it has completed more than 20 million trips and serves hundreds of thousands of commercial rides each week.
Waymo is also working with local, state and federal authorities on the regulatory approvals required to operate its commercial service in Germany. The company said it plans to keep regulators, lawmakers, emergency services and the public informed as its operations expand.
The planned German expansion comes as autonomous ride-hailing services begin gaining a presence in Europe. Reuters reported that Uber, Verne and Pony.ai launched autonomous rides in Zagreb in August, making the Croatian capital the first European city where customers could book a self-driving vehicle through Uber's app.
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