Waymo's robotaxis are allowed on the highway

Waymo is stepping up its game in the robotaxi competition against Tesla: the autonomous vehicles from the Alphabet subsidiary will soon be allowed to drive on freeways as well.

“Freeway trips make Waymo even more convenient and efficient,” writes the Waymo team in its blog in its blog. This currently applies to Los Angeles and San Francisco, as well as Phoenix, where the autonomous Waymo vehicles are in operation in the city and surrounding areas. Waymo is also expanding its business area in the Bay Area, from San Francisco to San Jose, including San José Mineta International Airport (SJC). Waymo plans to expand the service to other cities, including Austin and Atlanta.

Freeways are the US equivalent of highways. However, there is a speed limit there, which varies between 55 miles per hour (89 km/h) and 80 miles per hour (129 km/h) depending on the state and local conditions.

Millions of test miles on the freeway

So far, the robotaxis have been operating in cities. However, they also use inner-city freeways there. To be able to offer the autonomous taxi service on the freeway, the vehicles had previously “covered millions of miles on freeways,” Waymo announced. They had “skillfully managed the dynamics on the highway,” so that the service could now be offered safely and reliably.

Waymo is currently the only robotaxi provider in the US whose vehicles are allowed to transport passengers autonomously and without a safety driver on board. Its self-proclaimed biggest competitor is the electric car manufacturer Tesla. Its CEO, Elon Musk, claims that most new Teslas have the technology to drive autonomously. Therefore, he speaks of millions of self-driving Teslas on the roads and a market share of more than 90 percent in the robotaxi business.

In fact, Tesla only offers robotaxi services in Austin, Texas, and in Silicon Valley. The service started in Austin this summer and is only available in a limited part of the city center. The fleet consists of relatively few vehicles, and currently, a safety driver must still be on board.

Waymo's robotaxis are already operating in the US metropolises of San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Austin, and Atlanta. The converted electric Jaguar I-Pace now completes around 250,000 paid rides per week. In 2026, the robotaxis are also scheduled to come to London.

(wpl)