Waymo’s robotaxi service will launch today at its fourth major airport: San Antonio International. The company said its vehicles will drop off riders on the sidewalks at the terminals and pick up passengers at the airport’s designated common area.
This is the first airport served by Waymo in Texas, where the company currently operates in San Antonio, Austin, Dallas and Houston. Waymo has been offering airport pickups and drop-offs at Sky Harbor International in Phoenix for a few years, and has begun serving San Francisco and San Jose Mineta International airports in recent months. It also serves a handful of regional airports.
Waymo launched its San Antonio robotaxi service in February, though it’s not yet fully available to the public. The company operates an invitation-based system that scales on a rolling basis — an approach Also used in Dallas, Houston and Orlando. The company said Tuesday that it brought “
This incremental approach is one way Waymo remains cautious in an otherwise rapid expansion year. The company said it wants to launch in about 20 new cities this year, including Tokyo and London. Its robotaxi service currently operates in 10 cities and performs more than 500,000 paid rides per week, almost double the number it operated at this time last year. Waymo is expected to begin offering rides in its newest vehicle, the Zeekr-built van called the Ojai, sometime this year.
The company shared data it says proves its robots are already safer than human drivers and reduce serious accidents. However, Waymo continues to face new obstacles as it expands.
Waymo’s robotaxis illegally passed school buses picking up or dropping off children, a problem being investigated by both the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). It has issued software updates to address that problem, but is still working with local officials in Austin, where most of the incidents involving school buses have been reported, to figure out how to get its robotaxis to behave around buses. according to Wired.
The NTSB and NHTSA are also investigating the company after one of its robotic machines crashed into a child at low speed in Santa Monica. The child reportedly suffered minor injuries, and Waymo said its robotaxi slowed from 17 mph to six mph before the crash.
Techcrunch event
San Francisco, California
|
13-15 October 2026
We’re also learning more about all things Waymo’s field operations as it expands. The company has dozens of so-called “remote assistance” staff located in the US and the Philippines who help Waymo’s robotaxis navigate difficult or unexpected scenarios. Waymo also relies on a team of “roadside assistance” workers — as well as first responders — in the rare event that a vehicle actually gets stuck, as TechCrunch recently reported.
This story has been updated with information about Waymo serving regional airports.
