Waymo expands test drives to Chicago and Charlotte

Want a robotaxi ride? If you live in Chicago, Illinois and Charlotte, North Carolina, you may be able to get around your city in an autonomous vehicle in the not-so-distant future.

According to a report from TechCrunchapparently confirmed By locals who spotted the vehicles in their area, Waymo is currently conducting test drives in both cities.

Waymo’s testing phase is deploying Waymo vehicles with human drivers in cities where the Google-owned company is looking to deploy its ride-sharing service. During this phase, Waymo effectively gleans knowledge from human drivers to better understand the lay of the land.

Local road conditions, traffic patterns and edge cases are all analyzed and mapped so that autonomous vehicles are prepared for the location. After months of testing, Waymo will begin testing the driverless version of the service. If all goes well, this will be followed by the launch of the full Waymo experience – where you hail a driverless car on the Waymo app – in the city.

Earlier this month, Waymo completed the first phase of testing in Nashville, Tennessee. Nashville will now see driverless taxis on its streets. Waymo tests are also underway in London, Washington DC and Denver.

The full service is currently available in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as Phoenix. Riders can also call for a Waymo ride through an Uber partnership in Austin and Atlanta. Waymo is also currently deployed in Orlando as well as Houston, Dallas and San Antonio.

Waymo is in progress expansion follows a funding round that raised $16 billion for the company.