By Michael Torley, Staff Writer

If you have not heard the news, or seen them driving by recently, Waymo has announced that its line of autonomous driving vehicles is hitting the roads of Cincinnati. They are currently being driven by a driver to map out the area before the full rollout.

However, it is not farfetched to say that one day in the near future the Waymo cars may be back to hail rides from those of us who need them.

When I first heard about this news, I had my share of doubts. First of all, and not to critique the drivers of Cincinnati since I am aware that I am not the best driver myself, the drivers of Cincinnati treat these roads like the wild west.

Never have I been in a city where people blatantly give no regard to pedestrian right-of-way, run through red traffic lights and stop signs and speed in front of police without being pulled over. The drivers of this city will either drive recklessly or will refuse to go a mile over the speed limit.

Waymo has more issues bringing its cars to Cincinnati than just the crazy drivers. Waymo brought their cars to Dallas, and being from the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) area myself, I know our drivers are not much better.

What really might be a bump in the road for Waymo as they enter Cincinnati are the literal bumps and potholes on the roads. Some sections of roads are atrocious to drive over, either feeling each bump or poorly done patch repair for what was once a pothole or crack in the road.  

The weather certainly does not help Cincinnati’s roads with salt debris from the annual snow accumulations and the heat in the summer buckling the roads into their current state.

Waymo cars better have good suspension, because the last thing any passenger wants to be in a car is jumping around from each bump or pothole on the roads.

This transportation addition will also bring a new challenge for Waymo: snow.

Can the cars handle snow levels like we saw last winter, or will the cars panic and end up all on one road blocking traffic with a few unfortunate customers stuck inside? Only time will tell.

This issue really propelled me since this is not my first rodeo seeing Waymo come to a new city. As mentioned earlier, the DFW area witnessed Waymo’s attempt to acclimate to Dallas. In short, it is a miracle that Waymo made it because the series of events between the city of Dallas and Waymo was an absolute disaster.

Dallas was not the first Texas city to have Waymo cars; the first was Austin in 2025, and for every mistake Waymo cars made in Austin and other cities where the technology was rolled out, the City of Dallas watched carefully and closely. What transpired afterwards was a seemingly endless back and forth between Waymo and the Dallas city government.

When the city of Dallas pointed out the latest mistake in Waymo’s menagerie of mistakes, the Waymo’s spokesperson would comment on said mistake. The company issues a response that the mistake would “never happen again,” only for the cycle to repeat itself again.

Eventually the company won, with Waymo cars in Dallas being officially launched this past month, yet it does not mean that these cars are bulletproof in terms of problems.

Taking it from someone who has seen this show once before, advice to Cincinnati: do not be afraid to be skeptical. Waymo has several hills to climb in this endeavor to get their cars to Seven Hills. At face value, this move seems like a welcome addition with more ride opportunities for everyone, yet Waymo has several challenges that they need to overcome.  

I am not one very keen on Waymo coming; I do not think that it will survive long before it is plagued with technical problems, or before their cars get into some bad wrecks. Yet it should not be denied that with the potential Waymo has, their addition can be very successful, but only if done right.