{"id":51207,"date":"2025-11-13T13:31:34","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T13:31:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/51207\/"},"modified":"2025-11-13T13:31:34","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T13:31:34","slug":"waymo-to-take-robotaxis-onto-bay-area-freeways-in-u-s-first","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/51207\/","title":{"rendered":"Waymo to take robotaxis onto Bay Area freeways in U.S. first"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a first for the U.S., Waymo on Wedneday began offering driverless robot-taxi rides on freeways in the Bay Area, along with Los Angeles and Phoenix.<\/p>\n

The pioneering Google spinoff will also expand service down the Peninsula all the way into San Jose<\/a>, and serve riders to and from Mineta San Jose International Airport<\/a>, creating broad new trip-taking opportunities for residents and visitors.<\/p>\n

\"AA map showing robotaxi company Waymo’s expanded service zone in the Bay Area. The company said the entire area shown would become available to some riders starting Nov. 12, 2025, and roll out to more over the following couple of weeks. (courtesy of Waymo)\u00a0<\/p>\n

Waymo co-CEO Dmitri Dolgov said the Mountain View company had been targeting freeways since Google launched its autonomous vehicle project in 2009.<\/p>\n

\u201cFreeway driving is one of those things that is very easy to learn but very hard to master,\u201d Dolgov said last week during a press event preceding Wednesday\u2019s public announcement of the freeway service.<\/p>\n

Dolgov promised Waymo, owned by Google parent Alphabet and spun off from Google in 2017<\/a>, would bring a \u201cstrong focus on system safety and reliability\u201d to freeway travel.<\/p>\n

Waymo officials said they have worked with the California Highway Patrol to ensure safe freeway deployment. On freeways, a Waymo will stay at or below 65 miles per hour, \u201cfollowing the flow of traffic,\u201d said company spokeswoman Sandy Karp, \u201cbut sometimes it might go to say, 68.\u201d<\/p>\n

Freeway travel will be available to early-adopting Waymo users\u00a0who have opted in to new features, with more users eligible later. Full access to the expanded Peninsula ridership area will be offered within a couple of weeks, Waymo said.<\/p>\n

However, some local officials expressed concerns about the vehicles\u2019 safety, including state Sen. Dave Cortese, who represents much of Santa Clara County and has chafed\u00a0at local officials\u2019 inability to regulate robotaxis<\/a>. Automated taxis fall under the purview of the state Department of Motor Vehicles and Public Utilities Commission<\/a>, including for freeway travel.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a tremendous risk that Waymo\u2019s taking right now, in their ambition to scale as quickly as they can with as little local control as possible \u2014 they\u2019re risking the ultimate tragedy,\u201d Cortese said last week, before learning about the freeway expansion.<\/p>\n

Waymo has hit a number of bumps along the way to becoming the nation\u2019s leading robotaxi company, serving the Bay Area, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Atlanta and Austin. In San Francisco, where it first rolled out paid fares, emergency officials and local politicians grew frustrated and angry<\/a> as the robotaxis repeatedly blocked first responders\u2019 vehicles and snarled traffic.<\/p>\n

In May 2024, federal traffic-safety authorities launched an investigation into Waymo after 22 reports that its robotaxis potentially violated traffic safety laws, or engaged in other \u201cunexpected behavior,\u201d including 17 collisions. The probe ended after Waymo made software updates.<\/p>\n

In June, a woman severely hurt in a San Francisco bicycle crash with a Waymo robotaxi sued the company<\/a>, claiming one of its vehicles pulled over in a no-stopping zone next to a bike lane, and a passenger opened a door into her path \u2014 despite the car\u2019s \u201cSafe Exit\u201d system.<\/p>\n

Also in June, Waymo expanded down the Peninsula<\/a>, offering rides as far south as Mountain View, in a staged expansion from San Francisco that started in August 2024. Service covering the length of the Peninsula into part of San Jose \u2014 a city where Mayor Matt Mahan urged regulators to allow the service<\/a> \u2014 will roll out over the next couple weeks, Waymo said.<\/p>\n

Rides to the San Jose airport will be available starting Nov. 12 to those signed up for Waymo\u2019s Silicon Valley service, with others eligible in the future. Waymo will have 24\/7 access to the San Jose airport\u2019s Terminal A, by the bus stop on Airport Boulevard, and to Terminal B, at the south curb of the rental-car center, Waymo said. The airport service will draw an added $4 fee.<\/p>\n

The company in September received a pilot permit to start operating at San Francisco International Airport. Waymo also intends to serve the East Bay, spokeswoman Karp said, but has \u201cno date to share quite yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana, at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference in San Francisco, described driverless taxi technology as \u201cnot perfection,\u201d<\/a> but said they are safer than human drivers and that she believed society would accept a roadway death by robotaxi as long as companies are transparent about safety.<\/p>\n

A September incident in which a Waymo drove around a stopped school bus with lights flashing and stop signs extended, sparking a federal probe, was an \u201cedge case\u201d for a robotaxi, Mawakana said. On freeways, Mawakana said, \u201cthe edge cases are different.\u201d<\/p>\n

Waymo software engineering director Pierre Kreitmann noted that higher speeds on freeways than on surface streets mean \u201ccollisions are higher severity.\u201d Construction issues, and law enforcement activities, can also be different on freeways, Kreitmann added. Other hazards include motorcyclists driving between lanes, hydroplaning, animals, and crashed vehicles.<\/p>\n

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A Waymo autonomous vehicle \u2014 outfitted with a range of sensors \u2014 is parked before driving on Highway 101 for a demonstration on Nov. 7, 2025, in San Bruno, Calif. (Dai Sugano\/Bay Area News Group)<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A Waymo autonomous vehicle \u2014 outfitted with a range of sensors \u2014 is parked before driving on Highway 101 for a demonstration on Nov. 7, 2025, in San Bruno, Calif. (Dai Sugano\/Bay Area News Group)<\/p>\n

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A Waymo autonomous vehicle \u2014 outfitted with a range of sensors \u2014 is parked before driving on Highway 101 for a demonstration on Nov. 7, 2025, in San Bruno, Calif. (Dai Sugano\/Bay Area News Group)<\/p>\n

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A Waymo autonomous vehicle drives on Highway 101 during a demonstration on Nov. 7, 2025, in South San Francisco, Calif. (Dai Sugano\/Bay Area News Group)<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The speedometer displays the driving speed of the Waymo autonomous vehicle on Highway 101 during a demonstration on Nov. 7, 2025, in South San Francisco, Calif. (Dai Sugano\/Bay Area News Group)<\/p>\n

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A Waymo autonomous vehicle \u2014 outfitted with a range of sensors \u2014 is parked before driving on Highway 101 for a demonstration on Nov. 7, 2025, in San Bruno, Calif. (Dai Sugano\/Bay Area News Group)<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe\u2019ve had to look at all these different cases,\u201d Kreitmann said. \u201cWe\u2019ve studied them deeply and made sure the Waymo (automatic) driver can handle them all.\u201d<\/p>\n

In heavy rain, a Waymo might take surface streets instead of freeways, Kreitmann added.<\/p>\n

Cortese believes Waymo is gambling on becoming ubiquitous before a tragedy provokes public outrage and heavy pushback against robotaxis. He pointed to the uproar that followed last month\u2019s killing of a beloved convenience-store cat by a Waymo in San Francisco, prompting\u00a0a city supervisor to demand voters at the county level get the right to decide<\/a> how robotaxis operate.<\/p>\n

Waymo says its driverless vehicles have covered about 100 million miles, and that its cars are five times safer than the human-driven vehicles that kill some 40,000 people in the U.S. annually<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"AA display inside a Waymo autonomous vehicle shows the self-driving car\u2019s driving path and surrounding cars while it drives on Highway 101 during a demonstration on Nov. 7, 2025, in South San Francisco, Calif. (Dai Sugano\/Bay Area News Group)\u00a0<\/p>\n

Philip Koopman, a professor emeritus at Carnegie Mellon University who studies the technology, said Waymo could credibly claim to be on track toward being safer than human drivers, but hasn\u2019t racked up enough miles traveled to say it\u2019s less likely to cause fatalities. And because Waymo frequently changes its operating software, its safety statistics aren\u2019t necessarily predictive of future outcomes, Koopman said.<\/p>\n

And, Koopman added, \u201cAll of the miles at low speeds don\u2019t necessarily predict what happens at high speeds.\u201d<\/p>\n

San Mateo County supervisor David Canepa, a former Waymo foe but now a supporter, said the robotaxis haven\u2019t caused problems in his county. Still, he expressed wariness at the prospect of Waymos on freeways.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m torn,\u201d Canepa said. \u201cI\u2019m a big fan of autonomous vehicles, but I\u2019m also a big fan of safety. They\u2019re going to have to continue to make sure that their safety record is clean.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheThe speedometer displays the driving speed of the Waymo autonomous vehicle on Highway 101 during a demonstration on Nov. 7, 2025, in South San Francisco, Calif. (Dai Sugano\/Bay Area News Group)\u00a0<\/p>\n

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