Waymo Expands Service to Bay Area Freeways and San José Airport

Select riders across more than 260 square miles of the Bay Area will now be able to hail a Waymo robotaxi, years after the driverless cars debuted in San Francisco.

The autonomous vehicle company began shuttling commercial passengers across Bay Area freeways and making trips to and from San José Mineta International Airport on Wednesday, marking a major expansion for the company.

“Achieving fully autonomous freeway operations is a profound engineering feat—easy to conceive, yet hard to truly master,” Waymo co-CEO Dmitri Dolgov said in a statement. “This milestone is a powerful testament to the maturity of our operations and technology.”

The Alphabet-owned company said that for more than a year, it’s been operating freeway rides for employees and their guests to ensure reliable and safe service. This week, it will begin making select commercial trips on freeways for the first time in the Bay Area, as well as Los Angeles and Phoenix, Arizona.

Following Phoenix’s Sky Harbor airport, San José’s airport is the second major airport in the nation to welcome the robotaxis, and first in the state.

“Waymo’s arrival at San José Mineta International Airport demonstrates our City’s commitment to innovation and world-class service,” San José City Manager Jennifer Maguire said. “This partnership offers travelers a new level of convenience while reflecting the values and ingenuity that drive Silicon Valley.”

Waymo will be able to pick up passengers at SJC’s Ground Transportation Centers in both terminals, and deliver them to some locations across the city, as well as north to the Peninsula and San Francisco.

But not all riders will see the option to hail a robotaxi from the South Bay to San Francisco right away. Freeway rides will become available for select trips this week and roll out to more riders over time. People interested in getting earlier access can express interest in their Waymo app, according to the company.

“When a freeway route is meaningfully faster, riders can be matched with a freeway trip, providing quicker, smoother, and more efficient rides,” the company said in a statement.

San José Mayor Matt Mahan said the expansion will allow visitors heading to the Bay Area for major sporting events in 2026, including Super Bowl LX and the World Cup, to step “into the future of mobility and entertainment.

“With San José at the center of the biggest sporting events of 2026, we’re helping deliver the most technologically advanced Super Bowl and World Cup experience ever,” he said in a statement.

The scope of Waymo’s San José service will also initially be limited to the city center. Riders can call a car to the Santana Row and Westfield Valley Fair commercial areas or the Newhall, College Park and Cory neighborhoods.

According to SJC, the company plans to expand downtown and to other parts of the city over time, as it has elsewhere in the Bay Area.

In August, Waymo led the return of ride-hailing services on San Francisco’s Market Street, five years after it became car-free, and in September, it received a permit to begin trips to and from San Francisco International Airport. Commercial operations there won’t launch until it’s gone through a phased testing process. The timeline on that is unknown.