DETROIT (WXYZ) — Silicon Valley autonomous vehicle company Waymo has begun testing its driverless cars on Detroit streets this week, marking a significant milestone in the Motor City's automotive evolution.
The Google-owned company announced Detroit as one of three new U.S. cities that will receive robotaxi service as early as next year. Waymo vehicles are now mapping Detroit roads in preparation for the public launch.
Watch Evan Sery's video report below:
"We're really excited to launch our service in Detroit, especially with the history in Detroit," said Jake Tretter, a Waymo technical program manager. "Better performance than humans is what we're really after."
Waymo, which launched in 2009, already operates an engineering facility in Novi that opened in 2016. The company has been testing its technology in metro Detroit for several years.
"We've been driving in and around the city for a number of years as we've tested out our technology," Tretter said.
Below is a photo of a Waymo vehicle in Detroit from July 2025:
During the current mapping phase, Waymo vehicles will have professional drivers in the front seat supervising operations. The company plans to start with a small fleet and gradually expand to hundreds of vehicles.
"Over time, we will expand the number of vehicles in the fleet to hundreds of vehicles, but we start small," Tretter said.
Detroit residents have mixed reactions to the autonomous vehicle rollout. Karema Regular, who lives in Detroit, expressed strong reservations about driverless technology.
"A self-driving car? No, no, absolutely not," Regular said. "The accident I was in was very severe, so imagine if nobody was behind that wheel, I probably wouldn't be here today."
Regular was involved in a serious crash two years ago that shaped her perspective on autonomous vehicles.
However, Jeremy Doneghy-Horrington, who works in Detroit, sees potential benefits in the technology.
"The future," Doneghy-Horrington said when shown video of Waymo cars in action. "For privacy like, for a business guy, like if you're having a business meeting, you want to get in the car, you want to have a conference call while being driven somewhere. It's pretty cool."
Waymo has addressed concerns about operating in Detroit's challenging winter weather conditions. The vehicles are equipped with heated sensors, wipers and cleaning fluid systems designed to handle snow and ice.
"That's why we take this gradual stair step approach. All of our sensors are like mini car windshields. We've got heaters, we've got wipers, cleaning fluid that sprays on them," Tretter said.
The Detroit launch represents another chapter in the city's rich automotive history, bringing cutting-edge autonomous technology to the birthplace of the modern automobile industry.
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