Self-driving cars are slowly becoming less sci-fi and more real-world as companies like Waymo, the autonomous arm of Google's parent, Alphabet, expand into more areas. On Thursday, the company opened up fully autonomous rides to San Francisco International Airport (SFO), starting with a select group of riders before expanding to the general public over the coming months.
To start, pick-ups and drop-offs will take place at the SFO Rental Car Center, which riders can access from the airport via the AirTrain. Waymo said in a blog post that it "plans to serve additional airport locations like the terminals in the future."
Waymo also operates driverless rides to San Jose Mineta International Airport and Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.
Waymo currently offers fully autonomous rides to the general public in the all-electric Jaguar I-Pace in the following locations: Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Austin, Texas. The vehicles can be summoned either via the Waymo app or Uber, depending on the city. In November, Waymo began driving passengers on freeways in San Francisco, Phoenix and Los Angeles. And in January, it opened up to its first public riders in Miami as it gradually expands access.
The self-driving company has added several new cities to its roster in recent months. In an Aug. 29 blog post, Waymo noted it's "entering a new chapter and accelerating our commercial expansion." You can find a full list of where Waymo currently operates and plans to expand below.
Waymo expands and grows
Waymo's growth extends to its manufacturing facilities. In May, the company said it's opening a new, 239,000-square-foot autonomous vehicle factory in the Phoenix area. The plan is to add 2,000 more fully autonomous Jaguar I-Pace vehicles to its existing 1,500-vehicle fleet. Notably, Waymo indicated it received its "final delivery from Jaguar" earlier this year, as it plans for future iterations of its driverless rides. Waymo added that the "facility's flexible design" will allow it to integrate its upcoming sixth-generation self-driving technology into new vehicles, starting with the all-electric Zeekr RT, which Waymo has dubbed Ojai.
In October 2024, Waymo also announced it's partnering with Hyundai to bring the next generation of its technology into Ioniq 5 SUVs. In the years to come, riders will be able to summon those all-electric, autonomous vehicles using the Waymo app. And in April 2025, Waymo said it reached a preliminary agreement with Toyota to "explore a collaboration" geared toward developing autonomous driving tech, which could someday be factored into personally owned vehicles.
Waymo safety and pushback
The self-driving company says it's driven over 127 million fully autonomous miles through Sept. 2025. I've hailed several rides myself in San Francisco, and as off-putting as it can seem at first (especially to see a steering wheel turn by itself), I quickly adjusted, and it soon felt like an ordinary ride.
... continue reading