Iván Hernández Dalas: Waymo’s highway driving sets stage for wider robotaxi expansion

A Waymo vehicle driving on a freeway.

Waymo robotaxis have logged miles on highways with its employees and guests in Phoenix, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. | Source: Waymo

Waymo this week announced its robotaxis will begin offering rides on freeways across the San Francisco Bay Area, Phoenix, and Los Angeles. The company is starting with a select number of public riders, which it expects to grow in the coming months. 

Waymo also expanded its service area in the San Francisco Bay Area. Its robotaxis now cover San Francisco all the way down to San Jose, including curbside service at San Jose Mineta International Airport. Check out the service area in the map below.

Until now, Waymo has stuck to deploying its robotaxis in urban and suburban areas. However, the company said it has done extensive testing on freeways for more than a year. Waymo said it also has plans to bring freeway capabilities to its other deployments in Austin and Atlanta in the future. 

In the U.S., the Waymo robotaxis have already drove more than 100 million fully autonomous miles on public roads and provided more than 10 million paid rides. The company said it is now driving more than 2 million fully autonomous miles and providing over a quarter of a million rides per week. The company currently operates services in Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Austin.

Waymo won The Robot Report‘s Robot of the Year Award in 2025.

Waymo's new service map in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Waymo’s new service map in the San Francisco Bay Area. | Source: Waymo

Where is Waymo coming next?

Waymo has spent 2025 bringing its robotaxis to new cities. It announced last week its coming to three more cities: Las Vegas, San Diego, and Detroit. The company started driving in each city with a mixed fleet of its Jaguar I-PACE and Zeekr RT vehicles equipped with its sixth-generation Waymo Driver.

Waymo said it will begin serving riders in San Diego next year and in Las Vegas in the summer of 2026. The company didn’t share a timeline for when it will begin serving riders in Detroit.

The news comes just a few weeks after Waymo shared its plans to bring its robotaxi services to London in 2026. The company’s other international plans include Tokyo, where it had deployed test vehicles to adapt its AV technology to local traffic patterns and road features.

In addition to London and Tokyo, Waymo has said it intends to expand to launch services in Miami, Atlanta, Dallas, and Nashville in the coming years.

While Waymo’s longtime rival Cruise is no longer in operation, it still faces competitors such as Zoox and Nuro, which are earlier in their deployment journeys. In 2024, Nuro expanded its capabilities using zero-occupant vehicles with the Nuro Driver system, while Zoox grew its operations in California and Nevada.

The post Waymo’s highway driving sets stage for wider robotaxi expansion appeared first on The Robot Report.



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