Waymo Self-Driving Cars Arrive in Japan by Early 2025 for First International Road Trip
Alphabet's autonomous driving subsidiary Waymo announced on December 16th that Waymo will collaborate with Japanese transportation and GO to bring self-driving cars to Tokyo for the first international road trip.
Waymo stated that it will learn and adapt to left-side traffic, as well as the nuances of driving in one of the world's most densely populated urban environments.
The first batch of Waymo's all-electric Jaguar I-PACEs is expected to arrive in Tokyo by early 2025. Tokyo's largest taxi company, "Japanese Transportation," will be responsible for the management and maintenance of Waymo vehicles.
Both parties will train the Japanese Transportation team to operate vehicles equipped with Waymo's self-driving system. Initially, drivers from Japanese Transportation will manually operate the vehicles to collect map data.
According to The Verge, Waymo has also entered into a strategic partnership with Japan's popular taxi app GO, which may indicate Waymo's intention to put its self-driving cars into operation through local service providers. However, Waymo spokesperson Sandy Karp stated that there are currently no plans to offer passenger services in Tokyo.
