The United Kingdom government has confirmed plans to amend transport regulations in the latter half of 2026 to allow driverless taxis to operate in cities, though no exact start date has been set.
Waymo announced that it will roll out a pilot programme in April, as Local Transport Minister Lilian Greenwood reiterated the government’s backing for autonomous transport.
“We’re supporting Waymo and other operators through our passenger pilots, and pro-innovation regulations to make self-driving cars a reality on British roads.”
The Alphabet-owned company unveiled a fleet of its vehicles at London’s Transport Museum on Wednesday, offering a glimpse of the technology ahead of its public launch.
Currently, Waymo cars are driving on London streets with safety drivers behind the wheel, collecting detailed mapping data. However, once the service opens to paying customers, the vehicles will operate without a human driver.
Greenwood, who attended the demonstration, said she believes autonomous vehicles could significantly improve road safety.
“We know that unlike human drivers, automated vehicles don’t get tired, don’t get distracted and don’t drive under the influence,” she said.
She stressed, however, that approval would depend on strict safeguards, “including protection from hacking and cyber threats”, before full deployment on UK roads.
Although Waymo vehicles are already visible across London during testing, they are not yet available for public hire. Government estimates suggest the autonomous vehicle sector could contribute £42bn to the UK economy by 2035 and support nearly 40,000 jobs.
Once regulations permit, passengers will be able to book Waymo robotaxis through a mobile app, though airport journeys will not be offered at the initial stage.
Waymo’s cars rely on four sensing technologies, lidar, cameras, radar and microphones, to interpret their environment.
The company says these systems provide 360-degree awareness, detecting objects up to three football fields away, even in poor weather conditions.
All data is processed by a high-powered computer located in the boot, which controls the vehicle’s decisions in real time.
A Waymo spokesperson said fares would be “competitive” but “premium”, with higher prices during peak demand.
Competitors Uber and Lyft are also preparing to introduce robotaxi services in the UK once regulations are updated, both partnering with Chinese technology firm Baidu, while Waymo uses Jaguar vehicles.
Waymo reports that its cars have completed 173 million miles in fully autonomous mode, primarily in the United States.
The company currently operates 1,000 robotaxis in San Francisco and 700 in Los Angeles.
Despite the progress, there have been occasional reports of technical faults, including incidents where passengers were temporarily unable to exit the vehicles.
