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Waymo Drives Autonomous Cars Through Detroit's Icy Streets to Test Winter Capability

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  //automotive-transportation.news-articles.net/co .. oit-s-icy-streets-to-test-winter-capability.html
  Published in Automotive and Transportation on Sunday, November 23rd 2025 at 17:36 GMT by gizmodo.com

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Waymo Braves Snowy Streets in Detroit and Denver to Push Autonomous Driving Forward

In a bold move that underscores its ambition to roll out autonomous rides on a broad scale, Waymo has announced a series of rigorous real‑world tests in some of the United States’ most challenging winter environments. Over the past few weeks, the company’s fleet of driverless cars has been criss‑crossing the icy streets of Detroit and the snow‑plowed avenues of Denver, putting its technology to the test in conditions that could be seen as a final proving ground before wider commercial deployment.

Detroit’s Frozen Test Drive

Waymo’s first high‑profile winter test took place in the Motor City, where the company has long been a pioneer of autonomous navigation in a city known for its unpredictable weather. The test was carried out on a 1.5‑mile loop that winds through downtown Detroit’s downtown, including intersections and traffic light‑controlled junctions. The route, which was previously used for the company’s standard “City‑Loop” tests, was now run under a blanket of fresh snow and slushy streets.

“Detroit has always been a city that pushes the limits,” said a Waymo spokesperson. “The city’s infrastructure, coupled with its weather, makes it an ideal place to test how well our system can adapt to unpredictable surfaces and variable visibility.”

During the run, six Waymo vehicles—each equipped with an array of lidar, radar, cameras, and machine‑learning software—concurrently navigated the loop. The cars were monitored by a team of safety drivers who sat in the passenger seats and were ready to take over if necessary. The system successfully handled a variety of winter scenarios: stopping on a slick curb, executing a tight U‑turn in a congested intersection, and yielding to a cyclist on a snow‑covered path. The data collected from these runs will be used to refine the company’s algorithms for sensor fusion and object detection in low‑visibility conditions.

The test’s location also carries symbolic weight. Detroit is home to the “Waymo One” autonomous taxi service, which has been operating in partnership with the City of Detroit since 2022. This partnership, a first of its kind in the United States, was designed to provide a safe, autonomous transportation option for Detroit residents. By demonstrating competence in the city’s harsh winter weather, Waymo aims to reinforce its commitment to safe, reliable rides for the city’s underserved neighborhoods.

Denver’s Snow‑Packed Trials

Just a few days after the Detroit test, Waymo shifted its focus to the Rocky Mountain city of Denver, which has its own winter challenges: high altitude, rapid temperature fluctuations, and heavy snowfall. In Denver, the company’s vehicles drove on a 1.5‑mile loop that ran through a mix of commercial and residential streets, including the busy 24th Avenue corridor and the quieter, tree‑lined streets of Congress Park.

Waymo’s presence in Denver follows a strategic partnership with the Denver City Council, which aims to pilot autonomous ride‑sharing services in the city’s congested downtown core. As part of this collaboration, the company’s vehicles have been granted temporary permits to operate in the city’s downtown for a series of trials, including the recent snow tests.

The Denver trials were designed to evaluate Waymo’s capability to handle the dual challenges of slippery roads and reduced visibility caused by blowing snow. The cars were equipped with thermal imaging cameras to detect pedestrians and cyclists, and the lidar sensors were calibrated to account for the increased scatter that snow can produce. Safety drivers monitored the vehicles at all times, ready to intervene if the system failed to recognize an obstacle.

One key milestone of the Denver test was the vehicles’ ability to navigate a major intersection at 45th Street and Larimer Avenue, a notoriously busy hub during the winter rush. The Waymo cars successfully yielded to a group of pedestrians crossing on a sidewalk that was slick with ice, while also keeping a safe distance from a truck that had just stopped on the curb.

Technological Insights

What sets Waymo’s winter tests apart is not just the geographic diversity of the locations but also the depth of data being collected. The vehicles are equipped with a suite of sensors that continuously map the environment and identify hazards. In snow, however, sensor performance can degrade: lidar beams may reflect off ice, cameras may lose contrast, and radar signals can be affected by the moisture in the air. To counter these issues, Waymo’s engineers have been adjusting the sensor thresholds and retraining machine‑learning models with snow‑specific data sets.

Another focus of the winter trials is the system’s ability to handle “edge cases”—unusual or unexpected scenarios that could catch an autonomous system off‑guard. For example, in both Detroit and Denver, the vehicles encountered sudden bursts of snow that obscured traffic lights, and the system had to rely on its map data and sensor fusion to determine the correct action.

Waymo’s internal safety metrics suggest that the company’s system continues to achieve a low rate of disengagements—a metric that measures the number of times a safety driver had to take control of the vehicle. While the exact numbers from the Detroit and Denver tests were not released publicly, the company’s broader safety record remains among the best in the industry. In 2022, Waymo’s fleet logged more than 40 million miles of autonomous driving with only a handful of incidents requiring driver intervention.

Significance for the Autonomous‑Vehicle Landscape

These winter tests are part of a broader push by autonomous‑vehicle leaders to demonstrate that their systems can operate reliably in real‑world, inclement conditions. The automotive industry has long been dominated by conventional vehicles that, while reliable in clear weather, can be challenged by extreme winter conditions. By proving that its technology can handle snow, Waymo hopes to overcome one of the major hurdles that have slowed the adoption of autonomous ridesharing services worldwide.

Competitors such as Tesla, Cruise, and Aptiv have also announced winter tests in the United States, but Waymo’s partnership with cities and its focus on rigorous, data‑driven safety protocols set it apart. The company’s approach—testing in multiple environments, engaging with local governments, and publishing transparent safety metrics—has helped build trust with regulators and the public alike.

Looking Ahead

Waymo’s next steps will likely involve scaling the trials to include more vehicles and longer routes, as well as expanding the partnership with the City of Denver to potentially launch a commercial autonomous taxi service during the winter months. Meanwhile, the Detroit partnership will continue to be monitored for its impact on underserved neighborhoods, with a particular emphasis on how autonomous vehicles can improve mobility for residents who lack reliable transportation.

For now, the snowy streets of Detroit and Denver serve as a proving ground where the future of transportation is being tested, refined, and, increasingly, accepted. Whether it’s a self‑driving car calmly gliding through a city’s icy streets or a passenger riding in a safe, autonomous vehicle during a blizzard, Waymo’s winter trials signal that autonomous technology is not only on the horizon—it’s already here, and it’s getting better.