Waymo to begin pothole detection program in Houston

“There are potholes that you obviously want to avoid, and there are times where you can't avoid a pothole,” Teicher said. “When you drive over it, you want to do so in a way that is comfortable for the passenger. And so we've used this data on potholes to continue to improve the driver's behavior.”

In comparison

The city of Houston allows individuals to report potholes through 311, but Teicher said that it is heavily dependent on individuals actually reporting them.

“311 reports are helpful when people make them,” Teicher said. “But it’s very reliant on individuals to decide, ‘Hey, I’ve got this pothole in front of my house, and I’m going to pick up the phone and report it to 311.’ That is a useful system, but it’s also, at times, inconsistent.”

Teicher added that the pothole program is being rolled out on an ongoing basis because they want feedback from cities and drivers to improve the program and give cities higher-quality data.

Stay tuned

Teicher said that while there isn’t a set date for when the technology will officially roll out in Houston, it will be in the “near future”.

“Potholes are a nuisance, but they can also be risky for drivers, for pedestrians, for cyclists, and so anything that we can do in addition to the safe operation of our vehicles to make roads safer, we want to do that,” Teicher said.

The pilot program is currently operating in Austin, Atlanta, the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles and Phoenix.