Waymo has suspended its robotaxi service on freeways in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Miami as it works to improve performance in construction zones, the company confirmed to TechCrunch on Thursday.
Waymo said it is in the process of incorporating “recent technical knowledge into our software and expects to repeat these routes soon.” Waymo robotaxis still operate on surface roads in these cities.
The decision to pull the robotaxi off highways follows Waymo’s decision to halt operations in Atlanta and San Antonio, Texas to address flooding issues in those cities. The company announced a software recall last week that was supposed to help its fleet avoid flooded areas in San Antonio, in which service has been halted for weeks while it worked on a more permanent fix. At least one robotaxi was spotted getting stuck in Atlanta this week, prompting Waymo to suspend operations there as well.
These service interruptions come as Waymo pushes to expand to a number of new cities around the world this year, aiming to offer up to one million paid rides per week by the end of 2026. Waymo is also currently testing Zeekr’s new robotaxi, which it calls Ojai, and is expected to begin offering rides in that vehicle in the coming months.
Waymo began offering freeway rides in late 2025. Placing its robotaxis on these higher-speed roads has been crucial to its expansion into large metro areas, helping the company better connect riders to local airports and reducing ride times by bypassing surface roads.
In the Bay Area in particular, freeway travel has helped Waymo dramatically reduce travel times across the peninsula from 45 minutes to over an hour.
Waymo did not cite any specific incident behind its decision to suspend highway driving this week. However, the company’s robot taxis have been spotted competing with freeway construction zones. On May 19, user X @Elliot_slade was posted a video claiming that his Waymo ride “went through cones” and he claimed the vehicle was “chased” by police officers.
When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This does not affect our editorial independence.
