Waymo's driverless cars set to start driving on freeways in these three US cities

Driverless cars and Waymo are about to become a much more common sight on America’s busiest freeways.

The company announced that it’s taking its autonomous vehicles onto freeways in three major metropolitan areas: San Francisco, Los Angeles and Phoenix.

This marks a significant leap for the company’s long-running robotaxi program, which until now has mostly stuck to surface streets.

Basically, your next road trip game could very well involve spotting cars with spinning LiDAR hats cruising past a freeway speeds.

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Its driverless cars are becoming tourist destinations in many cities

According to Waymo, a ‘growing number of public riders’ will be invited onto these highway routes, though it hasn’t said exactly how many cars are part of this expansion.

What it has said is that the new service aims to handle commutes, airport trips, and even casual joyrides, whether that’s zipping from downtown LA to Culver City or heading down the peninsula from San Francisco to San Jose.

The expanded Bay Area coverage is particularly noteworthy.

The service area now spans the entire peninsula and reaches San Jose Mineta International Airport, making it the company’s most ambitious service footprint yet.

The move comes after years of testing and gradual rollouts designed to build public trust and technical capability.

The company’s efforts seem to be working, given that its driverless cars are becoming the must-do tourist attraction in San Francisco.

Waymo claims its vehicles have already racked up ‘millions of miles’ on freeways and can ‘skillfully handle highway dynamics’.

Basically, the company is confident that its driverless cars can survive everything from sudden lane mergers to that one BMW driver who believes turn signals are optional.

In fact, there’s even a video that shows a Waymo driverless car with an impressive 1-second reaction time to a car backing into its path, which is pretty impressive.

Waymo’s fleet will be getting an upgrade in 2026

And this is far from the end of Waymo’s growth spurt.

The company has already confirmed that it’s preparing similar freeway expansions for Austin and Atlanta, along with ‘other unannounced regions’ that remain mysterious for now.

Beyond that, Waymo is planning to launch service in San Diego, Detroit and Las Vegas next year, though those cities will start with surface streets only while the company validates local freeway behavior.

All told, Waymo’s latest expansion signals that the US robotaxi landscape is shifting from small pilot projects to something that resembles a true national network.

In addition, the company also recently announced that it will be replacing its aging robotaxi fleet with new Hyundai Ioniq 5 EVs in 2026, which will further improve its operations.

If the freeway rollout goes smoothly, the days of spotting a Waymo as a novelty may soon be over.

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