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Earlier this month, Waymo’s chief safety officer Mauricio Peña testified before the Senate Commerce Committee during a hearing on autonomous vehicles. Much of the discussion aimed to educate the public, but Senator Ed Markey’s questions about overseas workers and Peña’s responses drew significant attention.
Peña disclosed that Waymo employs remote guidance workers based in the Philippines to assist with vehicle navigation and emergencies, which Senator Markey criticized, questioning how workers without U.S. driver’s licenses could assist on U.S. roads.
Waymo addressed this in a blog post by Ryan McNamara, its head of global operations, and shared a letter sent to Markey’s office. The post clarifies that Waymo does not employ people to “remotely drive” the robotaxis; rather, the self-driving systems control the vehicles.
Remote assistance workers provide information in response to system requests. Waymo also has U.S.-based Event Response Teams (ERTs) for more complex tasks like handling collisions and coordinating towing.
Waymo has 70 Remote Assistance agents globally on duty at any time, based in Arizona, Michigan, and two cities in the Philippines. With a fleet of 3,000 vehicles driving over 4 million miles weekly, the ratio of workers to robotaxis is small.
A lack of transparency in the autonomous vehicle industry, especially regarding remote guidance, has led to mistrust. Waymo continues expanding into new markets, facing a recent setback when New York governor Kathy Hochul withdrew a proposal to legalize robotaxis outside New York City due to insufficient support.
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