AI news · Waymo · robotaxis
Waymo plans robotaxi rides in Toronto from 2028
Waymo’s first Canadian city starts with hand-driven mapping and a local fleet partner, with public rides planned for 2028.
Waymo, Alphabet’s self-driving car company, aims to carry its first riders in Toronto in 2028, it announced on Friday 16 October 2026. Toronto is its first Canadian city, after Ontario admitted Waymo to the province’s automated vehicle pilot programme, TechCrunch reports.
The rollout is slow by design. First, Waymo cars drive Toronto’s streets by hand to build detailed maps. Next come supervised trials. Riders get in only once the cars drive themselves.
Waymo says Element Fleet Management, a Toronto company, runs the fleet. With its partners, Waymo says it plans hundreds of jobs over time in maintenance, driving and customer service.
Snow is the big unknown: no Waymo city lies further north, TechCrunch points out. Fifteen US cities have Waymo rides today, and London and Tokyo host trials. Across more than 400 million kilometres of driverless trips, Waymo says its cars were in 95 per cent fewer crashes causing serious injury than human drivers in the same cities.
For Toronto businesses, 2028 brings a new way for customers to arrive that needs no parking space.
Sources
- Waymo: Hello Toronto! Waymo is En Route. Checked
- TechCrunch: Waymo’s robotaxis are headed to Canada. Checked
Alexandre S.
Alexandre S. is a creative ad strategist and copywriter with ten years' experience in digital marketing across multiple channels.
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