Driverless taxis now allowed on freeways in SF, Phoenix, and LA

The Driverless Highway Era Begins

On November 12, 2025, Waymo started something no robotaxi company had done before: charging passengers for rides on high-speed freeways.

The driverless cars now merge onto interstates in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Phoenix, traveling up to 65 mph with no one behind the wheel.

The company also expanded its Bay Area coverage all the way down to San Jose, including curbside pickup at the airport.

What started as a secret Google project in 2009 has turned into the clear leader in a race that just lost one of its biggest competitors, and the next 12 months could reshape how Americans get around.

First Paid Highway Rides Ever

Waymo’s robotaxis had driven on freeways before, but only with employees or test passengers inside.

Starting November 12, anyone using the app in San Francisco, LA, or Phoenix can request a ride that includes interstate travel.

The vehicles follow posted speed limits, usually 65 mph, and the company says they may exceed that by a few miles per hour in certain safety situations.

Waymo coordinated with the California Highway Patrol and Arizona Department of Public Safety before the launch. Highway driving could cut some ride times in half.

The Bay Area Gets Full Coverage

The same day freeways opened, Waymo expanded its San Francisco service area to cover the entire peninsula down to San Jose.

That includes Silicon Valley cities like Palo Alto and Mountain View, where the company is headquartered.

Riders can now get picked up or dropped off curbside at San Jose Mineta International Airport, making it Waymo’s second airport destination after Phoenix Sky Harbor.

The Phoenix airport has become the most popular pickup and dropoff point in that entire metro area.

Google Started This in 2009

The whole thing began as a secret project inside Google called “Chauffeur.”

Sebastian Thrun and Anthony Levandowski launched it in January 2009 using modified Toyota Priuses fitted with cameras, radar, and spinning laser sensors.

Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page challenged the team to complete ten 100-mile routes across California without human intervention.

By December 2009, they had finished the first route. The project stayed hidden until October 2010, when the New York Times broke the story.

From Project Chauffeur to Industry Leader

Google spent $1. 1 billion on Project Chauffeur between 2009 and 2015.

In December 2016, the project spun off into its own company called Waymo under Alphabet, Google’s parent company.

Waymo launched its first commercial robotaxi service in Phoenix in 2020 and started charging for rides in San Francisco in 2023.

The company now operates in five U.S. cities and provides more than 250,000 paid rides every week. It has logged over 10 million total paid trips.

GM Quit After Losing $10 Billion

General Motors was supposed to be Waymo’s biggest rival. The automaker bought Cruise in 2016 and poured billions into building a robotaxi fleet.

But in October 2023, a Cruise vehicle in San Francisco struck and dragged a pedestrian who had been hit by another car.

In December 2024, GM announced it would stop funding Cruise entirely and fold the unit into its driver-assist technology division.

The company halted all operations, and regulators suspended its California license. The company had lost more than $10 billion on the project with almost nothing to show for it.

Amazon Is Building a Robotaxi Factory

Amazon paid $1.2 billion for self-driving startup Zoox in 2020, and now it’s scaling up.

In June 2025, the company announced a 220,000-square-foot factory in Hayward, California, about 17 miles north of Tesla’s Fremont plant.

Zoox is currently making one robotaxi per day but plans to produce three per hour by next year. At full capacity, the factory will build 10,000 vehicles annually.

Unlike Waymo, which modifies existing cars, Zoox builds its own boxy, carriage-like vehicles with no steering wheel and seats facing each other.

Tesla Promises Robotaxis in 2026

Elon Musk says Tesla will launch a competing “Cybercab” robotaxi service in 2026, starting in California and Texas. The vehicles would use Tesla’s Full Self-Driving software and operate without humans behind the wheel.

But Musk has been promising autonomous Teslas for nearly a decade. In 2019, he predicted Tesla would have one million robotaxis on the road by now.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is also investigating Tesla’s Full Self-Driving system after crashes involving sun glare, fog, and dust, including one that killed a pedestrian in Arizona.

Waymo Announces 12 More Cities for 2026

Waymo is not waiting around.

In November 2025, the company announced plans to launch driverless service in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Miami, and Orlando, with testing already underway.

It had previously announced 2026 launches in Detroit, Las Vegas, Nashville, San Diego, and Washington DC. The company is also testing in New York City and preparing for its first international service in London.

Snow and Ice Are the Next Challenge

Most of Waymo’s current cities have mild weather.

That changes with Detroit, Denver, and Minneapolis, where snow, ice, and freezing temperatures can blind sensors and eliminate lane markings.

The company says it has been testing in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to prepare for harsh winters. Minneapolis will be the coldest city Waymo has ever tried to operate in.

If the technology works there, it could open up the entire northern United States to robotaxi service.

Competitors Keep Dropping Out

The robotaxi field looked crowded a few years ago.

Now it’s thinning fast. GM shut down Cruise. Ford and Volkswagen disbanded their joint venture, Argo AI, in 2022.

Uber sold its autonomous vehicle unit. Amazon’s Zoox is still ramping up and only offers free rides in Las Vegas and San Francisco.

Tesla hasn’t launched anything yet.

That leaves Waymo with a massive head start: years of real-world data, millions of miles driven, and a fleet already earning revenue in five cities.

Waymo Pulls Away From the Pack

Waymo now offers something no other company can match: paid robotaxi rides on city streets, suburban neighborhoods, and 65 mph freeways, all without a human driver.

The competition that was supposed to arrive never really showed up. GM spent $10 billion and walked away.

Tesla keeps pushing back deadlines. Amazon is still building its factory. By the time rivals catch up, Waymo may already be in 20 cities.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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