The day might be coming when self-driving lifts will roam the streets of Arlington — but a couple legislative decisions would have to happen first.
Waymo, Google’s self-driving taxi arm that has been expanding in several other metro areas, has had its eye on the D.C. area for a while.
Whether it ever comes to Northern Virginia, however, comes down to decisions in Richmond and in D.C.’s Wilson Building.
Waymo has been spreading across the country by first lobbying for changes in state legislatures, and then establishing a foothold in a “relatively focused area,” company spokesperson Ethan Teicher told ARLnow. That zone can grow over time, like in the Bay Area, where the company started in San Francisco and has since expanded to cover 250 square miles.
Currently, Waymo is pushing for approval to operate in D.C., but is waiting on a study from the District Department of Transportation and a decision from the DC Council. It has recently been expanding its lobbying operation in the District amid approval delays, according to Axios.
We could be ready to operate fully autonomously in the coming weeks if they’d let us. That would allow us to start the employee-passenger feedback phase (but we’d probably blocked from offering rides to the public)
— Ethan Teicher (@ethanteicher) February 25, 2026
Even if Waymo wins approval in D.C., however, it would still need approval from Richmond to operate self-driving cars in the commonwealth. A bill to make this possible is currently working its way through the Virginia state legislature.
That piece of legislation, introduced by Sen. Saddam Salim (D-37), passed the State Senate on a 35-4 vote, but is currently in subcommittee in the House. The bill includes a section that would prohibit localities from imposing any prohibition on fully autonomous vehicles — so if approved, robotaxis could become legal throughout the commonwealth.
Waymo says that its vehicles crash less frequently than those driven by humans, although some critics of Salim’s bill have disputed that claim and raised labor concerns on behalf of rideshare drivers.
In March 2025, Waymo announced a goal of beginning to operate in D.C. this year. At least one of its vehicles has been spotted making a pit stop in Arlington since then.
Teicher didn’t provide a master plan for Waymo expansion in the D.C. area. If it becomes legally possible, however, he said the company could someday begin operating throughout D.C., Maryland and Northern Virginia.
“I don’t have a long-term plan to share, but if all three jurisdictions had a legal pathway to fully autonomous operations, Waymo would be able to serve people across the region,” he said.
