Waymo has suspended robotaxi service on freeways in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Miami as it really works to enhance efficiency in building zones, the corporate confirmed to TechCrunch on Thursday.
Waymo stated it’s within the technique of integrating “current technical learnings into our software program and count on to renew these routes quickly.” Waymo robotaxis are nonetheless working on floor streets in these cities.
The choice to drag robotaxis off of freeways follows Waymo’s determination to pause operations in Atlanta and San Antonio, Texas to deal with issues with flooding in these cities. The corporate introduced a software program recall final week that was supposed to assist its fleet keep away from flooded areas in San Antonio, through which service has been halted for weeks, whereas it labored on a extra everlasting repair. No less than one robotaxi was noticed getting caught in Atlanta this week, inflicting Waymo to droop operations there, too.
These service interruptions come as Waymo is pushing to increase to numerous new cities across the globe this yr, with the purpose of providing as many as a million paid rides per week on the finish of 2026. Waymo can also be presently testing its new Zeekr-built robotaxi, which it calls Ojai, and is anticipated to start out providing rides in that automobile within the coming months.
Waymo began providing freeway rides in late 2025. Placing its robotaxis on these higher-speed roads has been essential to its enlargement in massive metro areas, because it helps the corporate higher join riders to native airports, and reduces experience instances by skipping floor streets.
Within the Bay Space specifically, freeway journey has helped Waymo dramatically reduce journey instances throughout the peninsula that beforehand took wherever from 45 minutes to over an hour.
Waymo didn’t cite a particular incident behind its determination to droop freeway driving this week. However the firm’s robotaxis have been noticed scuffling with freeway building zones. On Could 19, X consumer @Elliot_slade posted a video claiming that his Waymo experience “blasted by way of cones” and claimed the automobile was “chased” by police.
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