Waymo launches pothole data-sharing program in Austin, partnering with Waze for test markets Robotaxi company Waymo says it wants to help the city of Austin tackle potholes, and it will do so by sharing data with transportation officials. Waymo announced in a blog earlier this month that it would partner with Waze, a navigation company that was acquired by Google in 2013, for the pilot program. Waymo said it would share data gathered by its robotaxis' systems with city and state transportation departments through the free-to-use Waze for Cities platform, along with information about potholes shared by drivers. The idea, Waymo said, would be to give officials "an additional view of surface street and highway conditions that enables them to more efficiently and effectively fill potholes". The company also said Waze users will be able to see the data in cities where Waymo operates, and users will be able to verify potholes identified by Waymo to increase the data's accuracy. "Waymo is already making roads safer where we operate. We want to build on the safety benefits of our service by partnering with organizations and city officials to help improve the infrastructure we all depend on," said Arielle Fleisher, Policy Development and Research Manager at Waymo. "Waymo's mission is to be the world's most trusted driver; we're also committed to becoming a trusted partner to the cities we serve." Austin is just one of five cities where this pilot program will launch. The program will also activate in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Atlanta. Waymo said it plans to expand the partnership to more cities. Waymo notes that potholes can significantly damage cars and contribute to crashes. The company said that cities rely largely on citizen reports to non-emergency 311 lines and manual inspections. However, Waymo's blog post claimed