Waymo to launch autonomous ride-hailing in Madrid next year

MADRID, Oct 20 : Waymo, Alphabet's autonomous driving unit, plans to launch a fully autonomous ride-hailing service in Spain's Madrid region in 2027, its first deployment in the country, it said on Tuesday.

• Electric Jaguar I-PACE vehicles will begin appearing on Madrid streets in the coming days, with trained specialists behind the wheel before autonomous operations begin, Waymo said in a statement

• Waymo will operate under Spanish traffic agency DGT's autonomous vehicle testing framework

• The company said it also aims to launch in London this year, Tokyo in 2027 — with Nihon Kotsu and Go pending regulatory approval — and Toronto in 2028 with Element Fleet Management

• Its fleet, which already operates in more than 15 US cities, completes more than 500,000 paid rides per week and has surpassed 20 million cumulative paid rides, Waymo said

• According to the company, safety data compiled over more than 400 million km (249 million miles) of autonomous driving shows 95 per cent fewer crashes involving serious injury or worse when compared with human drivers

• The DGT issued its first national permits for autonomous vehicle testing to WeRide and Uber last month, with commercial services expected to launch in Madrid by the end of this year