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Our journey to Tokyo

Waymo is partnering with GO, Japan's leading taxi app, and Nihon Kotsu, Tokyo's premier taxi company, to bring autonomous vehicles to Tokyo. With Nihon Kotsu drivers, these vehicles will operate in Minato, Shinjuku, Shibuya, Chiyoda, Chūō, Shinagawa, and Kōtō wards, while Waymo adapts and tests its technology on Tokyo's roads.

Nihon Kotsu logo Nihon Kotsu
Waymo logo Waymo
GO logo GO
Waymo vehicle in front of Tokyo skyline

Waymo’s mission

Be the world’s
most trusted driver

We’re on a mission to be the world's most trusted driver. Making it safer, more accessible, and more sustainable to get around — without the need for anyone in the driver’s seat.

Be the world’s
most trusted driver

We’re on a mission to be the world's most trusted driver. Making it safer, more accessible, and more sustainable to get around — without the need for anyone in the driver’s seat.

Meet the Waymo Driver

Our autonomous driving technology—the Waymo Driver—uses artificial intelligence and a suite of sensors to navigate vehicles safely without a human behind the wheel. Cameras, radar, and lidar work together to build a complete view of our vehicles’ surroundings, day or night, rain or shine, up to 300 meters away.

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Waymo vehicle diagram of sensors: lidar, radar, and camera

Our experience

  • 200,000 trips/week

  • 15+ major US cities where we operate, including publicly available services in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and more.

  • 80 million+ kilometers on public roads

  • 81% fewer injury causing collisions compared to a human driving the same distance in the cities where we operate in the U.S.

Today, the Waymo Driver provides hundreds of thousands of weekly trips to satisfied riders across six major U.S. cities, driving over 1.6 million kilometers per week without a human behind the wheel. Riders love the clean and consistent experience we provide, while the data to date demonstrates we're improving road safety in the cities where we operate.

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FAQs

  • faqs

    • When can I try one?

      While we look forward to bringing the proven safety benefits of the Waymo Driver globally, we are not serving riders in Tokyo at this time.

    • When and where will you be driving?

      We’ll be driving, day and night, in several wards across Tokyo including Minato, Shinjuku, Shibuya, Chiyoda, Chūō, Shinagawa, and Kōtō.

    • What is the purpose of manual driving?

      Experience is the best teacher. Waymo drives on public roads to introduce and refine its autonomous driving technology in real-world conditions, enabling it to adapt to the specific nuances of each city’s roadways.

    • Can the vehicle move on its own?

      During the initial phase in Japan, trained Nihon Kotsu drivers will manually operate Waymo vehicles, while Waymo’s technology powers fully autonomous ride-hailing services in the United States. We will keep the community informed if and when we begin driving autonomously.

    • Are you filming what's around the vehicle?

      Our vehicles use cameras, radar, and lidar sensors to understand their surroundings. This information enables our engineering team to adapt and test our autonomous driving software for Japanese roadways. Our systems are not designed to use this data to identify individual people’s identities, and all data is handled in compliance with applicable laws and regulations.

    • Why are you in my neighborhood?

      We’re in Tokyo to adapt our autonomous driving technology to Japanese roadway conditions and understand how it could fit into the existing transportation landscape.

      We have a small fleet of vehicles that are being driven manually by human Nihon Kotsu drivers, providing our system experience on Tokyo’s streets.

      If you’ve seen us on the road and have feedback on how we drive, please let us know.

    • What kind of experience/background do the autonomous specialists have?

      Trained Nihon Kotsu drivers (autonomous specialists) drive vehicles equipped with the Waymo Driver. In addition to Nihon Kotsu’s driver training, they undergo classroom and in-car training and must pass driving tests with Waymo.

      The training curriculum covers education about the technology and how to safely monitor the vehicle on public roads. Autonomous specialists also take a defensive driving course. The goal of this training is to equip the specialists with the skills needed to train and monitor the system.

    • Where can I find more information about Waymo and stay up-to-date?

      To stay up to date with Waymo, follow along with us on our journey on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and the Waypoint – the official Waymo Blog.

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