Today, Waymo and Waze are announcing a new pilot to provide cities with sharper tools to combat a common enemy of cyclists, pedestrians, and drivers alike: potholes.
The pilot program uses Waymo’s perception and physical feedback systems to detect and provide up-to-date information on potholes where Waymo operates. The data will be available to cities and state Departments of Transportation through the free-to-use Waze for Cities platform alongside user-reported pothole information, giving officials an additional view of surface street and highway conditions that enables them to more efficiently and effectively fill potholes. The data will also be visible to Waze users in the cities where Waymo operates, keeping road users safe by alerting them as they approach a pothole. Like other on-road features reportable in the Waze app, users will be able to verify the Waymo-identified potholes, increasing the data’s accuracy.
“Waymo is already making roads safer where we operate. We want to build on the safety benefits of our service by partnering with organizations and city officials to help improve the infrastructure we all depend on,” said Arielle Fleisher, Policy Development and Research Manager at Waymo. “Waymo’s mission is to be the world’s most trusted driver; we’re also committed to becoming a trusted partner to the cities we serve.” (....)