Waymo suspends all freeway rides over safety

Waymo said that it’s pausing its robotaxi services connected freeways successful the U.S. arsenic it updates its bundle to amended show astir operation zones and flooded roads.

Before the suspension, freeway operations were disposable successful San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Miami. The institution said that thoroughfare and different off-highway operations of Waymos volition continue.

The institution archetypal confirmed the impermanent intermission to Reuters, and said that it was moving to integrate caller method learnings into bundle and expects to resume these routes soon.

“We are committed to being bully neighbors for our riders and our communities. As portion of that commitment, we marque proactive decisions including temporarily pausing aspects of our service. We cognize riders number connected america to get around, and we admit their patience arsenic we enactment to get them wherever they’re going safely and reliably,” a Waymo spokesperson said successful an email statement.

The institution besides paused operations successful Atlanta, aft a Waymo stopped successful flood water. In aboriginal May, astir 3,800 of Waymos autonomous taxis were recalled aft a bundle defect caused immoderate vehicles to thrust into flooded roadways.

The suspension comes astatine a clip erstwhile the Alphabet-backed company, which is based successful Mountain View, has accrued its gait of enlargement into a fig of caller cities successful the U.S. and crossed the globe, and getting them connected freeways and section airports is important for expansion.

Competitors Tesla and Zoox person been playing drawback up but don’t lucifer the standard of Waymo yet.

The institution said it has collected 170 cardinal autonomous miles, with 13 times less injury-causing collisions compared to quality drivers successful the routes they run in.

Waymo said it provides 500,000 travel each week, and aims to transverse 1 cardinal paid rides per week by 2026. While astir Waymo models successful usage are Jaguar SUVs, it precocious began investigating a Chinese exemplary Zeekr called Ojai successful Los Angeles.

Waymo did not mention a circumstantial lawsuit that prompted the astir caller recall, but the institution has been forced to intermission operations to amended bundle
in respective Southern states that person been deed by flash floods, including Texas, Tennessee and Georgia.

In 2025, Waymo recalled implicit 1,200 vehicles owed to a bundle defect resulting successful insignificant crashes against obstacles successful the road. Earlier this year, it faced renewed scrutiny aft hitting a kid extracurricular a schoolhouse successful Santa Monica and moving implicit a feline successful San Francisco.