{"id":50276,"date":"2025-11-12T22:59:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T22:59:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/50276\/"},"modified":"2025-11-12T22:59:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T22:59:08","slug":"waymo-expands-to-bay-area-freeways-san-jose-airport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/50276\/","title":{"rendered":"Waymo expands to Bay Area freeways, San Jose airport"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/img_2293-1-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-v-7d0efd03=\"\"\/> article <\/p>\n<p data-v-7d0efd03=\"\">A Waymo car in San Jose, Calif. on Nov. 12, 2025. <\/p>\n<p data-v-6fc2855c=\"\">SAN JOSE, Calif. &#8211; Next time you&#8217;re on the freeway or at the San Jose airport, you may see a car without a driver.<\/p>\n<p data-v-6fc2855c=\"\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ktvu.com\/tag\/organization\/waymo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Waymo<\/a>, the Mountain View-based autonomous car company, is heading to freeways in select regions around the U.S., including the Bay Area.<\/p>\n<p data-v-6fc2855c=\"\">Part of the company&#8217;s expansion efforts, <a href=\"https:\/\/waymo.com\/blog\/2025\/11\/taking-riders-further-safely-with-freeways\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">announced Wednesday<\/a>, also includes service at San Jose Mineta International Airport.<\/p>\n<p data-v-6fc2855c=\"\">Travelers can hail a car through Waymo&#8217;s app and the autonomous car will wait at the airport&#8217;s ground transportation areas at either Terminal A or B.<\/p>\n<p data-v-6fc2855c=\"\">&#8220;Waymo\u2019s arrival at San Jos\u00e9 Mineta International Airport demonstrates our City\u2019s commitment to innovation and world-class service,&#8221; San Jos\u00e9 City Manager Jennifer Maguire said in a statement Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p data-v-6fc2855c=\"\">Waymo&#8217;s autonomous cars were authorized to operate at the San Jose airport <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ktvu.com\/news\/waymos-allowed-bay-area-airport-california-first\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">in September<\/a> \u2013 marking the first airport in California and the second in the world to allow the service.<\/p>\n<p data-v-6fc2855c=\"\">The company&#8217;s South Bay expansion was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ktvu.com\/news\/waymo-autonomous-vehicles-permitted-operate-san-jose\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">approved by the California Public Utilities Commission back in May<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-v-6fc2855c=\"\">&#8220;Whether you\u2019re taking a ten-minute ride from San Jose Mineta International Airport to Levi\u2019s Stadium or headed up 280 to San Francisco, there couldn\u2019t be a better moment for Waymo\u2019s autonomous vehicles to expand across the Bay Area,&#8221; San Jos\u00e9 Mayor Matt Mahan said Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p data-v-6fc2855c=\"\">The company&#8217;s co-CEO Dmitri Dolgov called Waymo&#8217;s autonomous freeway operations a &#8220;profound engineering feat.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-v-6fc2855c=\"\">&#8220;This milestone is a powerful testament to the maturity of our operations and technology,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We are proud to begin offering riders in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Phoenix trips that use freeways as we continue to scale the Waymo Driver, always guided by safety.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-v-6fc2855c=\"\">Waymo operates a fleet of more than <a href=\"https:\/\/waymo.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/scaling-our-fleet-through-us-manufacturing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">1,500 electric cars<\/a> around the U.S.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>  <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/D3031C59FB423F619F4673990534F041.jpg\" alt=\"Waymo wants to expand south to San Jose, the Peninsula Hills and other cities.\" class=\"sr-only\" data-v-7a5d4fdb=\"\"\/>   <\/p>\n<p data-v-6fc2855c=\"\">The company&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/waymo.com\/blog\/2025\/11\/taking-riders-further-safely-with-freeways\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">expansion <\/a>to freeways will start in the Bay Area, Phoenix and Los Angeles, with more cities expected in the future.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-v-6fc2855c=\"\">Waymo has made headlines since it&#8217;s launch in San Francisco in 2022 \u2013 including cases involving pedestrian <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ktvu.com\/news\/waymo-autonomous-vehicle-crashes-into-cyclist-injuring-them-in-san-francisco\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">injuries<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ktvu.com\/news\/fatal-7-vehicle-crash-reported-san-francisco\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">crashes <\/a>and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ktvu.com\/news\/waymo-autonomous-vehicle-vandalized-set-on-fire-in-san-francisco\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">vandalism<\/a>. Most recently, the car company was blamed for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ktvu.com\/news\/justice-kitkat-sf-supervisor-holds-rally-autonomous-vehicle-regulation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">death of a cat<\/a> in San Francisco&#8217;s Mission district.<\/p>\n<p data-v-6fc2855c=\"\">Since the cat&#8217;s death, a San Francisco leader has advocated for legislation that would give the community more of a say in how autonomous vehicle technology is used.<\/p>\n<p data-v-6fc2855c=\"\">Self-driving cars are currently regulated by the DMV and California&#8217;s Public Utilities Commission.<\/p>\n<p data-v-6fc2855c=\"\">&#8220;The future of autonomous vehicles should be decided by people, not tech oligarchs and their politicians,&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ktvu.com\/news\/justice-kitkat-sf-supervisor-holds-rally-autonomous-vehicle-regulation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">said San Francisco District 9 Supervisor Jackie Fielder.<\/a><\/p>\n<p data-v-6fc2855c=\"\">The cat, affectionately named KitKat, was fatally <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ktvu.com\/news\/sf-bodega-cat-struck-killed-waymo-store-owner-says\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">struck by a Waymo last month.<\/a><\/p>\n<p data-v-6fc2855c=\"\">At the time, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ktvu.com\/news\/sf-bodega-cat-struck-killed-waymo-store-owner-says\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Waymo spokesperson said the cat<\/a> had darted under one of the self-driving cars as it was pulling away with passengers.<\/p>\n<p data-v-6fc2855c=\"\">In September, there was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ktvu.com\/news\/waymos-allowed-bay-area-airport-california-first\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">pushback in San Francisco<\/a> after Waymo was approved to operate on San Francisco&#8217;s previously car-free Market Street.<\/p>\n<p data-v-6fc2855c=\"\">Autonomous vehicles generally provide benefits to the environment and economy , according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.autosinnovate.org\/initiatives\/innovation\/autonomous-vehicles\/benefits-of-havs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Alliance for Automotive Innovation.<\/a><\/p>\n<p data-v-6fc2855c=\"\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.autosinnovate.org\/initiatives\/innovation\/autonomous-vehicles\/benefits-of-havs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">The lobby group<\/a> notes self-driving cars also increase road safety due to driver behavior often being the cause of crashes.<\/p>\n<p data-v-6fc2855c=\"\"><a href=\"https:\/\/waymo.com\/safety\/impact\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Waymo data shows<\/a> overall fewer crashes involving injuries, airbag deployment, pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists compared to human drivers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"group-source-paragraph\" data-v-4fbf7207=\"\">The Source: Waymo, San Jose officials, Waymo data, the Alliance for Automotive Innovation and previous KTVU reporting.<\/p>\n<p>    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ktvu.com\/tag\/organization\/waymo\" class=\"tags-tag\" data-v-6fc2855c=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Waymo<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ktvu.com\/tag\/us\/ca\/santa-clara-county\/san-jose\" class=\"tags-tag\" data-v-6fc2855c=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">San Jose<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"article A Waymo car in San Jose, Calif. on Nov. 12, 2025. SAN JOSE, Calif. &#8211; Next time&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50277,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[1184,100,1768,88,90,89,198,1181,5987],"class_list":{"0":"post-50276","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-jose","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-organization","11":"tag-san-jose","12":"tag-san-jose-headlines","13":"tag-san-jose-news","14":"tag-santa-clara-county","15":"tag-us","16":"tag-waymo"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50276"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50276\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}