Waymo Robotaxis to Launch in Tokyo in 2025

Waymo's Expansion to Tokyo: Autonomous Vehicle Testing in 2025

Waymo is scheduled to commence testing of its autonomous vehicle technology within Tokyo in early 2025. This marks the first instance of the Alphabet company’s robotaxis operating on public roadways outside of the United States.

Initiating the "Road Trips" Program

The expansion into Japan is a component of Waymo’s “road trips” initiative. This development program centers around deploying the company’s technology across diverse cities and evaluating its performance in varying conditions. Tokyo presents unique challenges, including left-hand traffic and a highly concentrated urban landscape.

Previous Testing Locations in the U.S.

Prior to this, the “road trips” program was largely confined to a dozen cities within the U.S. These tests were designed to assess performance under specific environmental factors. Examples include evaluating operation in rainy conditions in Miami and extreme temperatures in Death Valley, California.

Additional testing sites have included Buffalo, Washington, D.C., Las Vegas, and Seattle. Waymo’s typical approach involves initially deploying a limited fleet of vehicles. These are driven manually by human operators to create detailed maps of the designated areas.

Subsequently, the vehicles transition to autonomous mode, initially with a safety driver present.

Partnerships in Japan

Waymo will collaborate with the taxi-hailing application GO and the taxi service Nihon Kotsu as part of its Japanese “road trip.” Nihon Kotsu will be responsible for the management and maintenance of the Waymo vehicles.

Mapping and Training

Initially, drivers from Nihon Kotsu will manually operate the vehicles to map crucial areas of Tokyo. These areas include Minato, Shinjuku, Shibuya, Chiyoda, Chūō, Shinagawa, and Kōtō.

Waymo is currently working with the Nihon Kotsu team to provide training to their employees on the operation of Waymo’s self-driving Jaguar I-Pace vehicles.

Recent Developments in the Robotaxi Industry

This announcement follows closely after GM’s decision to discontinue its Cruise robotaxi program. This also resulted in the cancellation of plans to introduce a driverless ride-hailing service in Japan, a project undertaken in partnership with Honda.

In October 2023, Honda, Cruise, and GM had jointly announced intentions to launch a robotaxi service in Tokyo by 2026, utilizing Cruise’s purpose-built robotaxis, known as The Origin.