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Deployment

Waymo Driver (6th gen) at Houston, Texas, USA

The sixth-generation Waymo Driver is Waymo's autonomous driving stack for fully autonomous robotaxi service. The platform integrates 13 cameras, 4 lidars, 6 radars, and external audio receivers, with overlapping 360° coverage and a detection range up to roughly 500 meters in nominal conditions. Compared to the fifth-generation system on the Jaguar I-PACE, the sixth-gen system uses 42% fewer total sensors.

Waymo says the per-unit hardware cost is targeted under $20,000 — a more than 50% reduction from the 5th-gen system. Currently runs on the Zeekr RT (sold as the “Ojai” robotaxi, purpose-built without a steering wheel or pedals) and the Hyundai IONIQ 5; began fully autonomous commercial operations in February 2026.

Waymo Driver (6th gen) by Waymo · Catalog entry · 1 source · not yet field-verified · Robotaxis

Track Waymo Driver (6th gen) at Houston, Texas, USA

Recent coverage

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Waymo launched public robotaxi rides in Houston, Texas, expanding its Texas footprint to three cities (Austin, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio). Part of the February 2026 four-city expansion.

Key facts

Operator
Waymo
Texas cities
4 (Austin, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio)

Safety record

No incidents on record for Waymo Driver (6th gen) at Houston, Texas, USA.

Only active incidents are counted. Retracted incidents are excluded from this summary but remain reachable at their canonical URLs.

Trust tier
Catalog entry · 1 source · not yet field-verifiedhow tiers work →
Last updated
2026-08-09
Model
Waymo Driver (6th gen)
Company
Waymo
Location
Houston, Texas, USA
Status
operational
First seen
2026-02-24
ID
b3151b4b-0ea6-4192-a072-86297166b271

Timeline

  1. Feb 2026
    First recorded
    Waymo Driver (6th gen) first documented operating at Houston, Texas, USA.
  2. Aug 2026
    Current status: operational, reviewed
    Latest recorded state. New status transitions append here as the deployment-status recorder produces them.

Claimed vs. verified

Waymo claims 3,500 Waymo Driver (6th gen) units in the field. DEPLOY has independently verified 36 deployment sites and 1,500 units.

The gap between claimed and verified is the Fleet Reality signal. See the Fleet Reality Index.

On the deployment map

Free to use on your site, with a link back to DEPLOY.

Waymo Driver (6th gen) operates in Houston, Texas, USA. Explore the full verified map:

Sources (1)

  1. Waymo adds Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Orlando to public ride roster · https://waymo.com/blog/2026/02/dallas-houston-san-antonio-orlando/ · 2026-02-24
Methodology: Verified · 1 source (no primary) · last reviewed 2026-08-09

Verification posture

Verified

Low confidence

Review state

Stable

Last reviewed 2026-08-09

Maturity + lifecycle

Maturity stage: commercial

Lifecycle: active

Architectural position

Cohort: av

Sources by quality tier

1
unclassified
Unclassified source

The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.

Methodology surface for Waymo Driver (6th gen) at Houston, Texas, USA.

Common questions

What is the Waymo Driver (6th gen) deployment at Houston, Texas, USA?
Waymo Driver (6th gen), built by Waymo, is recorded as a deployment at Houston, Texas, USA on the DEPLOY registry. Waymo operates the deployment directly.
Who operates Waymo Driver (6th gen) at Houston, Texas, USA?
Waymo, the manufacturer of Waymo Driver (6th gen), operates this deployment directly. This is a maker-deploys-its-own-product arrangement rather than a customer pilot.
When did the Waymo Driver (6th gen) deployment at Houston, Texas, USA go live?
The deployment is recorded as starting February 24, 2026 on the DEPLOY registry. Earlier activity may exist but is not yet sourced.
Have there been incidents at the Waymo Driver (6th gen) deployment at Houston, Texas, USA?
No active incidents affecting this deployment are recorded on the DEPLOY registry. Absence of recorded incidents is not a guarantee no incident occurred; DEPLOY records only sourced incidents and suppresses retracted ones.

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