Resolution Criteria

Waymo will resolve as YES when the company launches fully driverless public ride-hailing service in Chicago. This means customers can hail and ride in Waymo vehicles without a human safety driver present. Resolution will be confirmed via official Waymo announcements, press releases, or verified reports from major news outlets (e.g., TechCrunch, Reuters, Bloomberg) documenting the launch of public driverless service in Chicago proper.

Background

As of February 2026, Waymo began manual mapping and early data collection in Chicago. Currently, no regulations exist in Illinois to allow for true driverless rides, though a bill has been introduced that could allow a Waymo pilot program in multiple Illinois counties, including Cook County. Chicago's harsh winters, heavy traffic, and dense urban complexity present challenges for autonomous vehicles. Waymo typically enters new cities by first conducting months of manual driving and mapping before gradually introducing autonomous testing and eventually fully driverless operations.

Considerations

Waymo did not provide a timeline for Chicago. Each northern city will begin Waymo service with human operators before scaling up to driverless, meaning the mapping phase could extend significantly. Waymo has announced 2026 launch plans in six other US cities, but none have begun driverless testing yet, suggesting regulatory approval remains a major bottleneck across multiple markets.

This description was generated by AI, with manual review.