By Ricardo Roura
The companies Waymo and Waze join forces for a pilot program that will report pothole locations to the Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) with the hope that the information will serve to help improve roads.
The two companies announced their alliance last week as part of a pilot program to help the city repair its potholesaccording to a press release.
Extra data, higher roads. 🤝 We’re partnering with @Waze to support cities detect and repair potholes faster by offering data from our autonomous fleet alongside neighborhood experiences. By giving cities a clearer image of avenue instances, we can help make streets safer for all and sundry.… pic.twitter.com/vfcn5lNYE0
— Waymo (@Waymo) April 9, 2026
The pilot program will use the perception and feedback systems of Waymo’s autonomous vehicles to detect every imperfection it finds on the road and will then send that information to LADOT and other state transportation authorities.
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“The data They will also be visible to Waze users in cities where Waymo operateswhich will contribute to the safety of drivers by alerting them when they approach a pothole,” the press release mentions.
“As with other road features that can be reported in the Waze app, Users will be able to check the potholes identified by Waymowhich will increase the accuracy of the data,” the statement added.
According to information provided by the two companies, Waymo autonomous vehicles have already identified about 500 potholes on different roads in Los Angeles.
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The city of Los Angeles is among the five metropolises selected for this pilot program, along with San Francisco, Phoenix, Austin and Atlanta.
“Waymo is demonstrating the good neighbor principle in action: sharing data that helps cities solve problems faster and make streets safer for everyone,” said director of the Rudin Center for Transportation at New York University, Sarah Kaufman.
“It is a simple step, but it reflects a broader principle of responsibility: that companies that operate on public roads can contribute to improving them“Kaufman added in the press release about the pilot program.
Keep reading: Waymo autonomous taxis will now be able to begin operating at San Francisco International Airport
The two companies They hope to receive the opinion of the cities in which the pilot program is applied to learn how they can improve this initiative, as well as to explore the possibility of providing more useful data in the cities where Waymo and Waze operate.
To find out more information related to this pilot program, you can consult this link.
Keep reading:
· Waymo wants its autonomous taxis to reach 10 new cities by 2025
· Waymo self-driving cars will begin spherical on highways
· Waymo deploys fleet of autonomous taxis in Los Angeles
