The race is on to bring self-driving taxis to Britain for the first time next year.
A battle has emerged between Waymo, owned by Google’s parent company Alphabet, and ride-hailing giant Uber to put driverless cabs on London’s streets.
Waymo has announced its autonomous ride-hailing service – already active in five US cities – will arrive in the capital in 2026. This would make London the first European city to get its self-driving taxis.
But Uber could beat it to the punch, having already confirmed in summer that it would take part in Government trials, where driverless ‘taxi- and bus-like’ services will be piloted for the first time.
The Department for Transport said in June it would fast-track small-scale, self-driving vehicle commercial pilots from spring 2026. It claimed this will make roads safer, create jobs, and keep the UK among the ‘world leaders in new technology’.
Secretary of State for Transport Heidi Alexander said: ‘I’m delighted that Waymo intends to bring their services to London next year, under our proposed piloting scheme.
‘Cutting edge investment like this will help us deliver our mission to be world-leaders in new technology and spearhead national renewal that delivers real change in our communities.’
Waymo has partnered with Jaguar Land Rover to outfit Jaguar I-Pace electric cars with ‘Waymo Driver’ – the firm’s autonomous driving tech.
Waymo’s fully-autonomous ride-hailing services should be on offer to tourists, commuters and the general public in London in 2026 – and there will be no human behind the wheel
Waymo cars will be hailed via an app, and it says it operates hundreds of thousands of paid trips each week in the US.
Uber’s autonomous taxis will also be hailed by app and be in partnership with Microsoft-backed AI partner Wayve.
Despite London’s complicated road network, both Waymo and Uber highlighted the UK’s largest city as a vital part of their expansion plans, making the race even higher stakes
As well as being the first European city to get Waymo, London would be only the second city outside America, after Tokyo, to see its self-driving cabs on the roads.
For Uber the London trials make the UK the largest market where Uber has announced an intention to pilot autonomous vehicles and will act as a base from which the company can scale its driverless ride-hailing to Europe and the wider world.
Jack Cousens, head of roads policy at The AA, said: ‘The race to provide self-driving taxis in the UK means some consumers might take a little longer before choosing their ride.
‘Some passengers might actively pick what they know with a human driver, while others may decide to avoid any potential awkward conversations, and opt for the self-driving car.
‘Self-driving vehicles are under continuous tests on British roads in numerous locations and will only get the green light to expand once certain standards are met. When the technology is more widely available, it will be interesting to see how passengers and other road users react.’
Waymo and Uber-Wayve both have roots in Britain already. Waymo says it has ‘strong ties to the United Kingdom’ as London and Oxford are home to its international engineering hubs.
These include ‘teams advancing large-scale, closed-loop simulation – a gold standard development method for fully autonomous driving technology’.
Meanwhile, the Wayve half of the Uber partnership has its headquarters on York Way, in London.
The previous Conservative government launched the Automated Vehicles in 2024. It is claimed that it could create 38,000 jobs and add £42billion to the UK economy.
Waymo’s arrival in Britain comes after half a decade of shuttling customers around America without a driver at the wheel, with the ride-hailing app currently serving five cities in the US and over 10 million people since it launched.
The ride-hailing service is supposed to ‘support London’s extensive network of bus, tube, bike and pedestrian infrastructure’ and ‘help achieve London’s transport priorities’.
Waymo says its data shows its technology is involved in five times fewer injury-causing collisions and 12 times fewer injury-causing collisions with pedestrians compared to humans.
Although it won’t convince everyone, and many see autonomous driving as highly controversial and dangerous, the firm states that in 96 million rider-only miles Waymo Driver has been involved in 11 times fewer crashes involving serious injuries than human drivers.
Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana said: ‘We’re thrilled to bring the reliability, safety and magic of Waymo to Londoners.
‘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.’
The firm partnered with Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) and outfitted the EVs with the Waymo Driver – the name of Waymo’s autonomous driving tech – for London
Waymo is hailed via the app and you start the ride yourself. You can also control music, temperature and destinations
Over summer, Department for Transport announced the first step in a wider rollout of self-driving cars, which will see the Automated Vehicles (AV) Act become law from the second half of 2027.
The Government estimates it will directly help create around 38,000 jobs, make roads safer and keep the UK among the ‘world leaders in new technology’.
Waymo earlier this year hit headlines when it found itself at the centre of demonstrations in Los Angeles against the Trump Administration’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids.
Protestors smashed the vehicles’ windows, slashed the tyres, spray-painted them with anti-ICE slogans, and set them alight.
It forced the LA Police Department to take to social platform X – formerly Twitter – to warn people of the dangers of setting the electric vehicles on fire, posting: ‘Burning lithium-ion batteries release toxic gases, including hydrogen fluoride, posing risks to responders and those nearby.’
At least six Waymo vehicles were reportedly targeted, which resulted in the company temporarily suspending operations in the area ‘out of an abundance of caution’.
Waymo covers hundreds of thousands of trips every week already in the US, with Waymo currently in Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Austin and Atlanta
Are self-driving taxis more expensive?
Reports on self-driving taxis in the US indicate riding in one is more expensive than human-driven ride hailing services.
Recently the Economist said that ‘perhaps Waymos are 20-40 per cent more expensive than a Lyft or an Uber’.
Alex Bitter, from Business Insider compared the cost of his first Waymo trip in San Francisco with the price of Uber and Lyft, and similarly found Waymo more expensive.
He found that a 12 minute ride on Waymo was $16 at around 9.30am – the rush-hour traffic time when prices are traditionally higher.
In comparison an UberX would have cost Bitter around $13 and a Lyft (which was running a discount when he checked) was $10.
Bitter wrote that ‘with a 20 per cent tip, the Uber ride would have cost about the same as Waymo, but the Lyft ride would’ve been a few dollars cheaper.’
This was despite the fact that Waymo doesn’t have a human driver labour cost to pay.
A Waymo spokesperson told Business Insider that the company looks at multiple factors when pricing rides, such as the trip’s duration and distance. ‘During busier times, such as morning rush hour and weekends, prices may be higher’.
