WASHINGTON, D.C.: Alphabet's self-driving division Waymo is preparing to expand its driverless ride-hailing footprint to the heart of U.S. policymaking.

The company announced plans to bring its autonomous service to Washington, D.C., as early as 2026, marking its first foray into the U.S. capital and a key step in its national rollout.

Waymo began moving vehicles to Washington, D.C., in January and will bring more to the city in the coming weeks as it works to start paid commercial services as soon as next year.

"We will also work closely with policymakers to formalize the legal framework needed to operate without a human behind the wheel, as Washington, D.C. does not currently allow for fully autonomous operations," Waymo said on Tuesday.

Waymo One, the company's fully autonomous ride-hailing service, is providing more than 200,000 paid passenger trips each week in San Francisco, Phoenix, Los Angeles, and Austin, following more than four million paid trips in 2024. It plans to add Atlanta, Miami, and then Washington, D.C.

The U.S. capital is home to federal regulators and lawmakers. Automakers and tech companies want the government to take more action to accelerate vehicle deployments.

Waymo announced in October that it had closed a US$5.6 billion funding round led by Google-parent Alphabet, as it seeks to expand its autonomous ride-hailing service despite concerns from regulators about safety issues.

In May, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration initiated an investigation after receiving 22 reports regarding Waymo robotaxis exhibiting driving behavior that potentially violated traffic safety laws or demonstrating other "unexpected behavior," including 17 collisions.

The NHTSA stated that several incidents involved collisions with clearly visible objects that a competent driver would be expected to avoid.

Waymo recalled 672 of its self-driving vehicles last June after one of its driverless cars struck a wooden utility pole in Phoenix in May. The recall included a software update to improve vehicles' detection response to poles and "robust mapping updates and improvements."

In February 2024, Waymo recalled 444 self-driving vehicles after two minor collisions occurred in quick succession in Arizona, stating that a software error could cause automated vehicles to inaccurately predict the movement of a towed vehicle.

Waymo stated, based on collision data from over 50 million rider-only miles (80.5 million km), Waymo vehicles have been involved in 81 percent fewer injury-causing crashes compared to an average human driver.