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Waymo has suspended robotaxi service on freeways in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Miami as it works to improve operations in construction sites, the company confirmed to TechCrunch on Thursday.
Waymo said it is in the process of incorporating “the latest technology learning into our software and hopes to resume these processes soon.” Waymo’s robotaxis are still operating on high streets in these cities.
The decision to remove robotaxis from highways follows Waymo’s decision to suspend operations in Atlanta and San Antonio, Texas to deal with problems with floods in those cities. The company announced a program recall last week that was supposed to help its fleet avoid flooding areas in San Antonio, where operations were halted for several weeks, while it worked on permanent repairs. At least one robotaxi was spotted getting stuck in Atlanta this week, prompting Waymo to suspend operations there, too.
The service disruptions come as Waymo pushes to expand to more new cities around the world this year, with a goal of providing one million rides per week by the end of 2026. Waymo is also currently testing its new Zeekr robotaxi, which it calls Ojai, and is expected to begin offering rides in the coming months.
Waymo started offering road trips by the end of 2025. Deploying its robotaxis on these high-speed lines has been key to its expansion into major metro areas, as it helps the company better connect passengers to local airports, and reduce boarding times by skipping freeways.
In the Bay Area in particular, freeway travel has helped Waymo cut travel times across the peninsula from 45 minutes to an hour.
Waymo has yet to cite a specific incident that led to the decision to suspend freeway driving this week. But the company’s robotaxis have been seen tackling highway construction sites. On May 19, user X @Elliot_slade has been sent a video claiming that Waymo’s ride “explodes through cones” is he said the car was “chased” by the police.
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