How Waymo and Waze are pitching in to help solve L.A.’s pothole problem

Waze and Waymo are teaming up to combat the growing pothole problem in Los Angeles.

The companies announced a program that will use Waymo’s self-driving cars to better detect potholes in the city. The data will be made available to municipal authorities through Waze’s traffic data sharing platform, according to a press release issued last week.

The number of potholes in Los Angeles jumped earlier this year after an intense rainy season soaked the city. Residents reported more than 6,700 potholes in January and nearly 5,000 reports were submitted in February and again in March, according to data from the city’s 311 information line analyzed by the nonprofit newsroom Crosstown LA.

The partnership is the latest effort in Waymo’s long-standing commitment to making roads safer, Arielle Fleisher, the company’s head of policy development and research, said in the release.

Navigation app Waze will also use data to warn users when they are approaching a pothole, the company said.

Drivers will then be able to check the pothole identified by Waymo in real time.

Los Angeles has been slow to repair pavement problems on its 23,000 miles of streets in recent years.

The city repaired 310 miles of road in fiscal year 2025, which ended in June — a drop from the 850 miles it paved a decade earlier in 2015, according to Crosstown. Only 216 miles of roadways were paved in fiscal year 2024.

The Bureau of Street Services, the department responsible for paving the city’s streets, is in communication with Waymo regarding the pilot program, said Dan Halden, a spokesman for the city department.

“The office proactively manages city streets, ensuring roads are treated not only for repairs, but also to strengthen the road network and prevent future potholes,” he said.

Many cities, including Los Angeles, rely on residents to report potholes through the non-emergency 311 service. The process provides an incomplete picture of road conditions, according to Waymo and Waze.

The pilot program aims to address reporting gaps and was developed based on feedback from city officials.

“We want to leverage the safety benefits of our department by partnering with organizations and city officials to help improve the infrastructure we all depend on,” Fleisher said.

The pilot program is underway in five cities, including San Francisco, and has already identified 500 potholes. The program is also underway in the Phoenix metro areas; Austin, TX; and Atlanta.

Companies plan to expand into cities with colder climates, which could make the pothole problem worse.

“Working together helps our community and makes our roads better for everyone,” Andrew Stober, head of strategic partners at Waze, said in the release.