waymo Expands robotaxi Service to Freeways in California and Arizona
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – Waymo is now offering rides in its robotaxis on freeways in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Phoenix, marking a significant expansion of its autonomous vehicle service. The company began testing freeway driving for employees over a year ago and has been spotted testing on LA freeways for months, culminating in today’s public rollout.
The addition of freeway access is essential for Waymo to serve key destinations like San Francisco and San Jose airports, where curbside pickup and drop-off are already available. The service is also expanding to the San Jose Mineta International Airport.Waymo already offers similar airport service at Sky Harbor phoenix International Airport.
Initially, freeway rides will be offered to Waymo riders who indicate their preference in the Waymo app.Riders may then be matched with a trip that includes freeway segments.
This expansion creates a unified 260-mile service area across the San Francisco Peninsula.
“Freeway driving is one of those things that’s very easy to learn,but very hard to master when we’re talking about full autonomy without a human driver as a backup,and at scale,” Waymo co-CEO Dmitri Dolgov stated in a media briefing. “It took time to do it properly,with a strong focus on system safety and reliability.”
Waymo engineers addressed the unique challenges of freeway autonomy, noting that while critical events are less frequent on freeways, this necessitates robust closed-course and simulation testing to validate the system’s performance in rare scenarios. Principal software engineer Pierre Kreitmann explained the expanded testing ensured smooth transitions between freeways and surface streets and the ability to adapt to varying road conditions.
The company has also updated its operational protocols to include coordination with safety officials, such as the California Highway Patrol, now that its robotaxis are operating on freeways.
