Waymo now testing fully autonomously in Pittsburgh with safety technician behind the wheel

PITTSBURGH — Waymo vehicles are now driving completely autonomously on Pittsburgh roads, albeit with a technician behind the wheels.

It’s the latest step for Waymo to begin offering autonomous robotaxi rides in the Steel City. Owned by Google parent Alphabet, Waymo currently operates in a number of cities, including San Francisco, Denver and Los Angeles, and began testing through manual driving in the city late last year.

Now, Waymo Senior Director Euan Guttridge announced that the vehicles are driving on their own in the region. The company gained the necessary permits with PennDOT to do so in February, but at the time a spokesperson indicated the vehicles were still in the manual driving phase.