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Waymo Driving To DC In 2026, Will Build Vehicles In Arizona

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Waymo Driving To DC In 2026, Will Build Vehicles In Arizona


In 2026, Waymo is bringing its fully autonomous ride-hailing service to riders in Washington, DC. The company’s Waymo One app and its vehicles will arrive in the nation’s capital as the latest addition to a growing nationwide service network. The Waymo One is currently operating in San Francisco, Phoenix, Los Angeles, and Austin. The company is also planning to add Atlanta and Miami to its service areas, with Washington, DC to follow.

Waymo’s ride-hailing service will arrive in Washington, DC next year. (Photo: Adobe Stock/f11photo)

“Waymo One is making fully autonomous driving a reality for millions of people across the U.S.” said Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana. “We’re excited to bring the comfort, consistency, and safety of Waymo One to Washingtonians, those who work and play in the city every day, and the millions of people from around the world who travel to the District every year.”

Earlier this year, the company tested its vehicles in the nation’s capital, and in this most recent news, stated: “We’re laying the groundwork for our fully autonomous ride-hailing service after returning to Washington, D.C. earlier this year, and we’ll continue introducing ourselves to D.C.’s communities and emergency responders over the coming months. We’ll also continue to work closely with policymakers to formalize the regulations needed to operate without a human behind the wheel in the District.”

Waymo To Build Vehicles In Mesa, AZ

The 5th-generation Waymo Driver on the all-electric Jaguar I-PACE (Source: Waymo)

To support its growing U.S. ridership, Waymo is investing in its U.S.manufacturing operation with a new autonomous vehicle factory in Metro Phoenix with its partners at Magna.
 
The Waymo Driver integration plant at this Arizona location will build thousands of the Jaguar I-PACE vehicles equipped with fully autonomous technology, to be designed and assembled in the U.S. The Mesa plant will be close to 240,000 square feet, and is expected to create hundreds of jobs.
 
“The Waymo Driver integration plant in Mesa is the epicenter of our future growth plans,” said Ryan McNamara, Vice President of Operations. “With our partners at Magna, we’ve opened a manufacturing site that enables the cost efficiency, flexibility, and capacity to scale our fleet to new heights.”
 
“The new Waymo and Magna manufacturing facility in Mesa is the latest example of Arizona being the new home for technology to innovate and grow,” said Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs. “I’m proud to see autonomous vehicles on our streets every day, helping get people where they need to be safely. The new manufacturing facility will enhance this presence, and the local jobs it’s creating will help Arizona’s tech economy continue to rise on the world stage.”

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Check out all the latest economic development, corporate relocation, corporate expansion and site selection news related to the automotive industry.



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Washington, D.C

Police search for suspect caught on camera slashing tires in Georgetown

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Police search for suspect caught on camera slashing tires in Georgetown


Washington D.C. police are searching for a vandal who was caught on surveillance video slashing the tires of multiple vehicles in a Georgetown alley on Tuesday afternoon. The suspect, who fled the scene on a red bicycle, targeted a Chevy Suburban and a Ford Escape on the 1700 block of 35th Street Northwest.



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Reflecting Pool being drained – again – as Trump administration tries once more to fix DC landmark – WTOP News

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Reflecting Pool being drained – again – as Trump administration tries once more to fix DC landmark – WTOP News


Crews began draining the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on Sunday, according to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, for the second time in three months.

(CNN) — Crews began draining the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on Sunday, according to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, for the second time in three months.

In an interview released Tuesday with Katie Miller, a conservative podcaster and wife of President Trump’s deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, Burgum said they started draining the pool as planned after the July Fourth fireworks show, noting some of the fireworks debris was still in the water.

Asked about the schedule for this round of renovations, he gave no specifics beyond a broad overview.

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“Drain the water. Clean up the fireworks stuff. Repair the vandalism that was done. Fill it back up again,” Burgum said.

As of Tuesday evening, there was still water in the pool, and it was unclear if it will be drained further. Burgum indicated over the weekend that it may only need to be partially drained.

The move comes after weeks of problems – algae blooms, green-hued water, a chipping bottom and allegations of vandalism – have plagued the iconic landmark, making its woes the subject of a national fixation.

Members of the Trump administration, including President Donald Trump, have said vandals caused damage to the Reflecting Pool by gashing the lining, though they have not provided evidence to support that claim. In late June, the president said the pool would be drained after the July Fourth holiday to fix it.

The administration will use the same contractor, Virginia-based Atlantic Industrial Coatings, for this next round of repairs. Previously, the company landed a no-bid contract worth more than $14 million for their part of the work – sealing the pool and painting the bottom “American Flag- blue.”

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Asked about the timeline for his part of the repairs, Eddie Gross, owner of Atlantic Industrial Coatings told CNN that “nothing has been set yet.” He declined to answer questions about his contract and the cost of additional repairs.

The Department of Interior did not respond to questions about the timeline for this round of repairs.

Burgum, in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday, suggested the repairs could happen with the pool only being partially drained. He sought to portray the costs as minor.

“It’s going to be a small number because the majority of the work was related to the labor and the materials for the liner,” Burgum said.

“We’ll use the same company, because they did a fantastic job,” he said.

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Burgum also said the government could “absolutely” prove the damage was caused by vandals, and that there are photographs supporting the claim. But he dodged a question about whether those photographs show anyone damaging the pool.

The secretary also denied that Trump having his motorcade drive through the pool mid-renovation in May did any damage to the site.

“No, I was with him when we came that night … We were driving in a Cadillac Escalade. It is one of the presidential fleet of cars,” Burgum said, adding that the vehicle Trump took on the ride was “substantially lighter” than the armored presidential limousine known as “The Beast.”

“The whole base level of this industrial rubber layer was not yet completed, and so there was no damage that night whatsoever,” he said. “That was one of the questions we asked before we even brought the presidential motorcade there, but not a chance.”

The other contractor involved in the project, Greenwater Services, previously told CNN that when the pool is drained it will not affect their system, which is up and running.

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Chas Antinone, the president of Greenwater Services, told CNN the company can shut down and then restart the so-called ozone nanobubbler, as necessary.

Companies involved in the renovation have found themselves at the center of national news as Reflecting Pool issues continued.

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DC is second riskiest city for driving, Allstate says

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DC is second riskiest city for driving, Allstate says


D.C. is the second riskiest city for driving, an insurance company report says.

Allstate said it looked at the number of crashes, how often they happen and certain types of behavior behind the wheel.

“On the phones, bike lanes, people on motor scooters having no regard for the law,” one driver told News4. “It is risky, yeah. I’ve seen a lot of close calls.”

The average driver around D.C. goes just about four years in between collisions. Drivers in the least risky city — Brownsville, Texas — go about 15 years in between collisions.

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D.C. also got dinged for bad driving — like being on phones a lot — and plenty of nighttime driving, which increases risk.

Allstate analyzed property damage claims from January 2023 through December 2024 to rank cities. Here’s the Top 10:

  1. Boston
  2. D.C.
  3. Baltimore
  4. Worcester, Mass.
  5. Springfield, Mass.
  6. Glendale, Calif.
  7. Providence
  8. Sunrise Manor, Nev.
  9. Los Angeles
  10. Philadelphia

But local Allstate agent Rudy Alston says D.C. drivers themselves may not deserve the bad rap.

“I think a lot of it isn’t so much from D.C. natives,” he said. “I think it’s a lot of people coming from outside of D.C. — coming from Maryland and Virginia that commute to D.C. — that maybe aren’t as familiar with the traffic laws in D.C. and how congested D.C. is with the influx of pedestrians, Uber drivers, the Door Dash guys on the scooters, the Metrobuses. So, I just think when they get here, they’re just not familiar with it.”



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