In the coming months, London will get its first Waymo driverless ride-hailing vehicles, the first European market for the Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) business.
Testing will begin with a small fleet of its vehicles with human 'safety drivers', before a full launch next year, the company said on Wednesday.
With the UK government planning to allow commercial self-driving pilots from 2026, Waymo is working with the UK Department for Transport and Transport for London "to secure the necessary permissions" in London.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said: “Boosting the AV sector will increase accessible transport options alongside bringing jobs, investment and opportunities to the UK. Cutting-edge investment like this will help us deliver our mission to be world leaders in new technology and spearhead national renewal.”
Waymo said it has completed over 100 million fully autonomous miles on public roads in the US and provided more than 10 million paid rides, while also launching testing on public roads in Tokyo in April.
It also emphasised its UK connections, with engineering hubs in London and Oxford working on closed-loop simulations, and its fleet being made up of Jaguar Land Rover all-electric I-PACE SUVs.
While Waymo has teamed up in some US cities with Uber and Lyft, its London plans are to work via its own app, competing directly with its sometime collaborators.
“We’re thrilled to bring the reliability, safety and magic of Waymo to Londoners,” said co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana.
She said the company is "making roads safer and transportation more accessible" and has "demonstrated how to responsibly scale fully autonomous ride-hailing".