Can Waymo and Waze fix cities potholes?

A white Waymp vehicle waiting at a Chicago intersection.

Transportation companies Waymo and Waze announced a new, pothole-patching pilot today, harnessing their troves of street data to map out areas in need of fixing.

The program will rely on the perception and physical feedback systems built into Waymo's autonomous fleet vehicles to detect the location and condition of city potholes. That data will then be sent to city and state Departments of Transportation through the free Waze for Cities program, which provides real-time road data to partners.

Waze users will be able to access and verify the data in the app, starting with riders in Los Angeles, when driving through areas with Waymo fleets.

Waymo will pilot the data partnership in five cities to start: San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Austin, and Atlanta, and plans to expand to cities with more complex transportation conditions, including harsh winters and freeze-thaw cycles. The company says it has already identified 500 potholes in need of filling. It says the partnership will "help fill reporting gaps and support cities’ efforts to maintain safer streets."

Waymo recently launched its driverless fleet to riders in Nashville, part of an aggressive expansion across the U.S., including cities like Chicago and Charlotte — it's expected to debut in dozens more cities this year. Waymo is in direct competition with Tesla's robotaxi fleet and recently had a $16 billion financing round. Tesla, meanwhile, is reportedly accelerating its autonomous fleet plans outside of its base in Austin, Texas.

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