Waymo has disclosed that its self-driving cars are now ready to ferry taxi service patrons on highways. The Google-funded firm announced this on Wednesday, with highway service first commencing in the San Francisco Bay Area, Phoenix, and Los Angeles. Waymo began testing highway driving under human oversight in Phoenix in early 2024.

“This has been a considerable effort over time,” stated Waymo co-CEO Dmitri Dolgov, as reported by NBC News. “Driving on highways is simple to learn but challenging to perfect for full autonomy without a human operator, especially at scale. It required time to execute correctly.”

The company mentioned that highway access would be provided to a “growing number” of passengers in the initial cities, with intentions to broaden to additional areas such as Austin and Atlanta. Per Waymo’s statistics, its robotaxis demonstrate greater safety compared to human drivers, with a reduced number of accidents resulting in injuries to pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists.

Waymo has faced federal safety inquiries. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is scrutinizing an event where a Waymo vehicle went past a fully halted school bus. “Safety is our utmost priority, as we provide hundreds of thousands of fully autonomous paid trips each week in some of the most demanding driving conditions in the U.S.,” a Waymo spokesperson informed Mashable, adding that Waymo will continue collaborating with NHTSA.

In May 2024, NHTSA initiated an investigation regarding 22 reported occurrences involving Waymo vehicles colliding with objects such as gates, chains, and parked cars, and ignoring traffic safety signals. In November 2024, Waymo voluntarily recalled 1,212 self-driving taxis for a software update aimed at minimizing crashes with stationary objects.

Waymo’s footprint has grown swiftly, with aspirations to operate in London, Dallas, and Nashville by 2026.