Waymo, the driverless “robotaxi” rideshare company, has rolled into Minneapolis for testing — with humans at the wheel.
The Mountainview, Calif.-based company began mapping the city with a small fleet of “less than 10” Waymo vehicles to start, said company spokesperson Chris Bonelli, in anticipation of expanding their numbers and eventually taking human hands off the steering wheel.
“We’ll be driving them ourselves, by humans, in the early stages of testing,” he said.
Waymo, which first rolled out driverless ride-hailing service in downtown Phoenix in 2022, hopes to win city and state approval to begin offering autonomous ridesharing in the Twin Cities in coming months. That will take convincing state lawmakers and regulators that an autonomous vehicle can handle Minnesota winters, the third-coldest in the nation behind Alaska and North Dakota.
To date, most Waymo testing and all commercial launches have occurred in warm weather climates. The company services five cities — Atlanta, Austin, Los Angeles, Phoenix and San Francisco — and will expand to Miami this week, followed soon by Dallas, San Antonio, Houston and Orlando. In addition to Minneapolis, the company has announced its intent to enter New Orleans, Tampa and Las Vegas, among other cities.
Prep for wintry climates
To prep for the wintry challenge that is Minnesota, Waymo tested cars in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, California’s Sierra Nevada and upstate New York. According to Waymo, the fleet of Jaguar I-PACE and Zeekr RT vehicles feature “sixth-generation” Waymo drivers — a combination of artificial intelligence and self-cleaning mechanisms designed to sustain the cars through snow and ice.
“We don’t need permits to begin this testing operation, but we do look forward to working with the state and city officials as we define a path toward operating this commercial ride-hailing service in Minneapolis,” Bonelli said. “We’re laying the groundwork for a future operation.”
Some lawmakers are already on board, so to speak.
A written statement released by Waymo on Thursday has supportive words from state Rep. Erin Koegel, a DFLer, and Rep. Jon Koznick, a Republican, who both co-chair the Minnesota House Transportation Finance and Policy Committee. Koegel said she looked forward to “a more efficient, environmentally sustainable, and equitable transportation future for our communities” and said the “deployment in Minneapolis is a great step forward.”
Koznick hailed the future of a “cleaner, more efficient transportation system.”
Lauren Johnson, regional executive director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving Minnesota, said “autonomous vehicles play an important role by providing another tool in the toolbox to help end impaired driving.”
Will it service the entire city?
If Waymo does get the green light to roll into Minneapolis, will it service the entire city? Can it cross city borders and head to St. Paul or the Mall of America in Bloomington? How about hitting the highway to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport?
To answer those questions, Bonelli pointed to the example of San Francisco, where Waymo started a consumer testing program in a small pilot area in 2021. In June 2024, the company began offering Waymos across all 49 square miles of the city. As of last week, the driverless cars can now take passengers from San Francisco by freeway to San Jose and San Jose Mineta International Airport.
“We just last week expanded and connected our territory,” Bonelli said.
The company has had a similar progression in Phoenix, where it began circulating downtown and now serves Tempe, Scottsdale and the airport.
“Last week, we announced we’ve started to allow riders on the freeway,” Bonelli said. “We’re currently doing that in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Phoenix.”
Getting a similar foothold in Minneapolis would allow proof of concept to lawmakers, local elected officials and the general public, laying the groundwork for expansion to surrounding areas — if the driverless cars can maneuver safely through snowy, pothole-encrusted Twin Cities roads.
Given how quickly technology is changing, Waymo officials believe the question is “when,” not “if.” Bonelli said the company already has offices in Europe, where it has its eyes on London, Tokyo and other potential international markets, with the goal of taking autonomous ridesharing worldwide.
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