Waymo's self-driving cars now driving in London

Waymo’s autonomous vehicles have been spotted on the streets of London as the company prepares to roll out its passenger service in the city next year.

A subsidiary of Alphabet Inc., Google’s parent company, Waymo shared an image on social media showing one of its self-driving Jaguar I-Pace cars crossing the famous Abbey Road zebra crossing.

The company's announcement read: “The Waymo Driver has landed in London!

“We’re now driving in London as we prepare to bring the safety, reliability and magic of our autonomous ride-hail service to the city next year.”

Waymo expressed its taxis would work alongside London’s extensive network of buses, underground, cycling, and pedestrian infrastructure with its upcoming ride-hailing service.

• New law ‘a major step’ towards autonomous vehicles in the UK
• Driverless cars – a guide to future technology
• Autonomous Emergency Braking – all you need to know

In the United States, the Waymo Driver has already covered more than one hundred million fully autonomous miles on public roads and provided over ten million paid rides.

“We’re thrilled to bring the reliability, safety and magic of Waymo to Londoners,” said Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana.

“Waymo is making roads safer and transportation more accessible where we operate. We’ve demonstrated how to responsibly scale fully autonomous ride-hailing, and we can’t wait to expand the benefits of our technology to the United Kingdom.”

Secretary of State for Transport Heidi Alexander commented: “Boosting the AV sector will increase accessible transport options alongside bringing jobs, investment, and opportunities to the UK.”

London will be Waymo’s second international expansion after Tokyo, Japan.