Waymo pauses freeway robotaxi rides in San Francisco amid safety review
San Francisco riders lost the fastest robotaxi option for airport runs and commutes as Waymo paused freeway trips during a safety and software review.
For San Francisco riders counting on a quicker trip to SFO or a cross-Bay commute, Waymo’s freeway pause took away the one feature that had turned some robotaxi rides into real time savers. The company halted autonomous vehicle operations on freeways in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Miami, leaving street-level service intact but stripping out the expressway shortcut for trips that had benefited most from it.
That means the rides most likely to feel the change are the longest ones: airport runs, Peninsula commutes and late-night trips that would have been faster on US-101, Interstate 280 or other freeway routes. Waymo had said it would offer freeway trips only when a freeway route was meaningfully faster, and TechCrunch reported those rides could cut trip times by up to 50% in some cases. With the pause, those savings are gone for now, even as rides within San Francisco neighborhoods continue.
Waymo said the suspension was tied to work on improving performance around construction zones. Reuters reported the company is also updating software to improve performance around flooded roadways. The company’s separate operations in Atlanta were also paused after an unoccupied robotaxi was reported stopped in flood water, underscoring how weather and roadside conditions have become a central test of the fleet’s readiness.
The retreat comes only months after Waymo began offering freeway rides in the San Francisco Bay Area, Phoenix and Los Angeles on November 12, 2025. The company later extended freeway service to Miami. At the time, Waymo presented the feature as a major step toward making robotaxis competitive with human drivers on longer trips, especially where the freeway is clearly the fastest route.
That expansion now meets a reality check. Waymo’s co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana has said the company expects to surpass 1 million paid rides per week in the United States by the end of 2026, a target that depends on dependable performance not just on city streets but on highways, in construction zones and in bad weather. For San Francisco, the immediate effect is simple: the robotaxi still works, but the fastest version of the ride does not.
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