Self-driving
Teslarati reported that Waymo's fully driverless service in Houston, with nobody in the driver's seat, had been open to the public since August 2026.
A dated step forward on the record
What the source says
“Waymo also operates a fully driverless service in Houston, which has been open to the public since August of this year.”
What it means
Waymo, from Waymo (Alphabet), is at stage 5 of 5 on our ladder: regulator-cleared or mass market. Its stage is set by other milestones on its record; this one adds to the history.
Human help: People working remotely can steer it or take over.
More on Waymo
- Waymo and Toyota said they would start testing self-driving Toyota bZ4X electric cars in Japan in 2027, then plan to expand to the UK and other right-hand drive markets.
- Waymo said it was adding nearly 250 square miles of driverless service area over the next week across Los Angeles, Nashville, Orlando, San Diego and the San Francisco Bay Area.
- Waymo restarted its service in San Antonio, about five months after the flood pause.
- Waymo opened its service to the public in Las Vegas, its 15th market, after Nevada's Transportation Authority allowed up to 1,000 of its robotaxis there.
- Waymo opened its service in Denver, San Diego and Tampa, inviting riders a few at a time. That made 14 US cities.
- Waymo filed a recall with NHTSA for 3,871 vehicles because they could drive at speed into freeway construction zones. The fix is a software update.