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WaymoWaze Pilot Turns Self-Driving Car Data Into Pothole Alerts in 5 Cities

Real-time detections flowing into Waze could help crews fix roads faster.

Overview

  • Waymo and Waze are running a pothole-mapping pilot in Atlanta, Austin, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and San Francisco, with about 500 potholes flagged so far.
  • Waymo’s cars use accelerometers to feel bumps that signal a pothole, then confirm the spot on later trips to weed out bad reads.
  • The detections feed into Waze for Cities for transportation teams and show up in the Waze app so drivers get alerts and can confirm or clear reports.
  • Philadelphia is slated to join once the state allows fully driverless service, as the city fights heavy freeze–thaw damage and logged more than 60,000 repairs in 2025.
  • Los Angeles officials, facing a surge in pothole reports after winter storms and slower paving output, say they are in contact with Waymo about the pilot.