[AutonomousVehicles] Waymo News for JUly 2026 So Far

[pmdonahue2 at gmail.com]

Good morning Corn and everyone,

 

                Before Waymo launches in additional cities they need to fully restore their service to markets in which they operate. San Antonio is one market that has been on pause since April. Their engineers need to work diligently to end their San Antonio pause and expand to areas such as Stone Oak where we live and begin operating on Texas freeways as they have done in Arizona and California. We’re really getting tired of hearing the same-old same-old from them concerning their safety folks giving them the green light to restart service here and expand to areas such as Stone Oak and the Medina Base Area. We hoped to be planning our Waymo filming by now. A time table for Waymo’s San Antonio relaunch and expansion plans would really be appreciated. Have a great weekend everyone.

 

Peter Donahue

 

 

From: AutonomousVehicles <autonomousvehicles-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Cornelius Butler via AutonomousVehicles
Sent: Saturday, July 25, 2026 10:17 AM
To: sautonomousvehicles at nfbnet.org
Cc: Cornelius Butler <cornelius.butler at gmail.com>
Subject: [AutonomousVehicles] Waymo News for JUly 2026 So Far

 

Hi Everyone,

Here is a comprehensive list of Waymo related news for July 2026 so far.

Waymo News & Announcements (July 1 – July 25, 2026)


1. Four-City Driverless Expansion & Hyundai IONIQ 5 Deployment


*	Date: July 8, 2026
*	Summary: Waymo announced the expansion of its fully autonomous, rider-only operations into four new major markets: Las Vegas, Denver, San Diego, and Tampa. Operations began with employee-only rides before opening to the public waitlist. Waymo also began testing its 6th-generation Waymo Driver system on the Hyundai IONIQ 5 electric vehicle platform.

Articles & Official Sources:

*	Waymo Official Blog: "July 8, 2026 - From the road" (July 8, 2026) https://waymo.com/blog/shorts/ro-den-lv-sd-tmpa/
*	Space Daily: "Waymo announced fully driverless taxis for four more American cities" (July 11, 2026) https://spacedaily.com/m-on-july-8-2026-waymo-announced-fully-driverless-taxis-for-four-more-american-cities-its-fleet-now-giving-about-half-a-million-rides-a-week-and-aiming-for-a-million-a-week-before-the-year-is-out/
*	QUASA Media: "Waymo Accelerates Robotaxi Rollout to San Diego Las Vegas Tampa and Denver" (July 14, 2026) https://quasa.io/media/waymo-accelerates-robotaxi-rollout-to-san-diego-las-vegas-tampa-and-denver

YouTube News Coverage:

*	News Report: "Waymo is expanding to more cities" (July 8, 2026) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkNsFKoKato
*	Short News Breakdown: "Waymo to start offering rides in 4 new cities" (July 8, 2026) https://www.youtube.com/shorts/_34UG7z5eVw


2. San Francisco 4th of July Incidents & City Hall Scrutiny


*	Date: July 6 – July 17, 2026
*	Summary: During 4th of July celebrations in San Francisco, heavy holiday gridlock caused several Waymo vehicles to stall or run out of power. In one widely shared incident, a Waymo vehicle drove over a lit firework on a city street. San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie subsequently urged state regulators to impose stricter operational rules on autonomous fleets during major citywide events.

Articles:

*	TechCrunch Mobility: "The battle over robotaxi rules" (July 17, 2026) https://mobility.techcrunch.com/p/the-battle-over-robotaxi-rules

YouTube News Coverage:

*	NBC News: "Waymo car travels over lit firework as other cars run out of battery in holiday gridlock" (July 6, 2026) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuGqKwp7luU
*	ABC7 News Bay Area: "Shocking moment woman's Waymo drove over exploding firework in San Francisco" (July 6, 2026) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDXQfnFOmqE


3. Landmark IIHS Safety Study: Waymo Crashes 68% Less Than Humans


*	Date: July 23, 2026
*	Summary: The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) published a safety study analyzing 50 million driverless miles logged by Waymo from 2021 to 2024. The study found Waymo vehicles were involved in 68% fewer police-reportable crashes compared to human drivers, including 85% fewer single-vehicle crashes and 81% fewer injury crashes.

Articles:

*	IIHS News Release: "Waymo's driverless cars crash less often than people - IIHS" (July 23, 2026) https://www.iihs.org/news/detail/waymos-driverless-cars-crash-less-often-than-people
*	CBT News: "Waymo’s driverless cars crash 68% less than humans, IIHS study finds" (July 24, 2026) https://www.cbtnews.com/waymos-safer-than-humans/

YouTube News Coverage:

*	News Broadcast: "New findings show that Waymo cars may get into less accidents than human drivers" (July 24, 2026) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJiaA27UKMg
*	News Short: "New report shows Waymo's driverless cars crash less often than people" (July 24, 2026) https://www.youtube.com/shorts/jH8NNPsH-T0


4. Waymo Prepares to End Uber Exclusivity in Austin & Atlanta


*	Date: July 24 – July 25, 2026
*	Summary: Reports indicated that Waymo plans to terminate its ride-hailing exclusivity contract with Uber in Austin and Atlanta. Waymo intends to launch its own standalone app in those markets starting in January 2028 as competition and regulatory disagreements between the two companies intensify.

Articles:

*	GuruFocus: "Waymo Considers Ending Partnership with Uber (UBER) Amidst Rising Tensions" (July 24, 2026) https://www.gurufocus.com/news/8978509/waymo-considers-ending-partnership-with-uber-uber-amidst-rising-tensions
*	The Next Web: "Waymo to end Uber exclusivity in Austin and Atlanta, launching its own app in January 2028" (July 25, 2026) https://thenextweb.com/news/waymo-uber-exclusivity-ends-austin-atlanta-robotaxi

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