Waymo Plans to Launch Driverless Ride-Hailing in Tokyo in 2027, with Fleet to Expand to About 100 Vehicles

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On September 14, Waymo announced that it has reached an agreement with Nihon Kotsu and the mobility platform GO, under which the three parties will jointly prepare to commercially launch a driverless ride-hailing service in Tokyo in 2027. Under the current plan, the service will initially launch with a fleet of a certain size and then gradually expand to about 100 vehicles, covering major districts of Tokyo. Passengers will be able to hail rides through both the Waymo and GO apps. The timeline remains subject to approval from Japanese national and local regulators, as well as completion of validation of the Waymo autonomous driving system and the joint operating system.

The three-party cooperation has moved from the previous road adaptation and data collection phase into the commercial operation preparation phase. In December 2024, Waymo announced its cooperation with Nihon Kotsu and GO, making Tokyo the first market outside the United States where its autonomous vehicles would enter public roads. After the vehicles entered Tokyo in 2025, trained Nihon Kotsu drivers operated them onboard, and the Waymo Driver began adaptive validation in the local road environment. At the current stage, the vehicles have already begun road operations in areas including Minato, Shinjuku, Shibuya, Chiyoda, Chuo, Shinagawa, and Koto wards.

Under the business model announced this time, Waymo will mainly provide the autonomous driving system and vehicle operation technology, GO will be responsible for the mobility platform and passenger entry point, and Nihon Kotsu will provide local taxi operations, fleet management, and road operation experience. GO said that after formal commercialization, its app will offer ride-hailing services for both traditional taxis and Waymo driverless vehicles, allowing users to choose autonomous driving travel without switching to a separate platform.

Waymo said that in the next phase it will expand local operating capacity in Tokyo and work with Japanese government departments to advance the permits required for commercial operations. At the same time, the three parties will continue to validate the performance of the Waymo Driver in Tokyo's road environment, as well as joint operating processes such as vehicle dispatch, fleet maintenance, passenger service, and emergency response. The first vehicles open to the public will provide fully driverless commercial service with no safety driver in the vehicle, rather than the current road adaptation phase involving Nihon Kotsu personnel.

The Tokyo project currently uses Waymo autonomous vehicles to carry out local road data collection and system validation. Waymo's official materials show that its autonomous driving system has been continuously adapted to Tokyo's road environment, including left-hand traffic, narrow roads, high-density traffic, and mixed pedestrian and bicycle traffic. Nihon Kotsu previously also established a dedicated operating base for Waymo vehicles and sent personnel to the United States to receive training in autonomous fleet operations.

To date, Waymo has operated fully driverless ride-hailing services in multiple U.S. cities. On September 14, the company disclosed that its commercial fully driverless service has covered 15 major U.S. cities and completed tens of millions of commercial passenger trips cumulatively. If the Tokyo plan receives regulatory approval under the current timeline, it will become an important project for Waymo to formally replicate its existing driverless commercial operation model in the Japanese market.