ATLANTA, Ga. — Good news for Atlanta drivers tired of dodging craters on our roads: Your next Waymo ride could literally help fix the potholes plaguing the city.
Starting now, Waymo’s self-driving vehicles in metro Atlanta will use their advanced sensors and onboard systems to automatically detect and report potholes while shuttling passengers around town.
The data feeds directly into the Waze for Cities platform, giving Atlanta Department of Transportation (ATLDOT) officials a powerful new tool to prioritize repairs more efficiently.
Waymo Joins Atlanta’s “Pothole Posse”
The pilot program, announced Thursday by Waymo and Waze (both under Alphabet), launches in five mature Waymo markets: Atlanta, the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Austin. Together, the fleets have already flagged about 500 potholes needing attention.
Atlanta revived its popular Pothole Posse program this year to tackle complaints coming in through 311. While resident reports remain important, they don’t always give a full picture of road conditions.
Waymo’s fleet — constantly rolling through neighborhoods, highways, and surface streets — can now help fill those gaps with real-time, data-driven insights.
“Potholes can cause significant vehicle damage and contribute to crashes,” Waymo said in its announcement. “This pilot program… is intended to help fill reporting gaps and support cities’ efforts to maintain safer streets.”
How It Works for Atlantans
- For riders: When you hop in a Waymo, the car is quietly scanning the road. You might even get a smoother ride as the vehicles learn to avoid detected hazards.
- For drivers on Waze: Pothole alerts from Waymo will start appearing in the app, just like user-reported ones, so you can steer clear.
- For the city: ATLDOT gets access to the data through Waze for Cities, helping crews target the worst spots faster and more equitably.
Andrew Stober, strategic partner manager at Waze, said the partnership builds on what Waze users have done for years: “This pilot program with Waymo adds another source of data… giving cities a clearer picture of road conditions.”
What This Means for Atlanta
Waymo launched commercial service here last June and has quickly become a common sight on Atlanta roads. This new initiative shows the company doubling down on being a good neighbor — turning everyday rides into useful data for fixing infrastructure that affects every driver in the city, whether you ride robotaxis or not.
City officials hope the extra eyes on the road will help the Pothole Posse keep up with Atlanta’s notorious wear-and-tear, especially after heavy rains or temperature swings.
Have you hit a bad pothole lately? Report it through 311 — and if you spot a Waymo, know it might be helping the city spot the next one.
Stay safe out there, Atlanta. Smoother roads could be on the way.
This story is developing. We’ll update as ATLDOT shares more on how the data is being used.