Waymo partners with WAZE on pothole-mapping in Bay Area to help city crews prioritize repairs

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — Autonomous vehicle company Waymo says it is partnering with sister company Waze to share data on potholes its vehicles encounter with local cities in the Bay Area.

Burlingame City Councilmember Donna Colson said the information could help smaller cities with limited staff.

“We can’t be everywhere at all times. Little cities like ours have smaller staffs. So if there’s any way for people to collect and give data to us, we love it,” Colson said.

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Colson said Burlingame would welcome the input, especially as many municipalities face budget constraints. She added that public-private partnerships could become increasingly valuable.

Waymo currently operates in San Mateo County, Santa Clara County and San Francisco.

Some officials, however, are skeptical.

State Sen. Dave Cortese, chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, said the proposal does not address the main challenge of paying for repairs.

“It seems like they just want to tell us where to go do, what we already know we need to do,” Cortese said.

Cortese called the plan a public relations move and said Waymo has been reluctant to share certain information with government agencies in the past. He added that financial contributions from Waymo’s parent company, Alphabet, would be more helpful.

“They don’t coordinate with emergency responders at all, as you know. We saw in December, Waymo vehicles completely shut down the city of San Francisco,” Cortese said.

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Colson said Burlingame has funds set aside for road repairs through voter-approved tax measures. She believes the data-sharing effort could lead to a lasting collaboration.

“It’s so much easier to be preventative and be aggressive about keeping these down when you can because the cost later on is so much more,” she said.