Waymo suspends – Waymo has suspended freeway robotaxi service in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Miami while it updates its software to handle highway construction zones. The company says it will keep running robotaxis on surface streets and expects to resume freeway
For riders in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Miami, the change is immediate: Waymo has suspended its robotaxi service on freeways while it works on software improvements for highway construction zones.
The company confirmed the pause on Thursday, saying it is integrating “recent technical learnings into our software” and expects to resume those routes “soon.” In the meantime, Waymo’s robotaxis are still operating on surface streets in those same cities.
This isn’t the first time Waymo has pulled back from specific road types after trouble. Earlier, the company paused operations in Atlanta and San Antonio, Texas to address problems with flooding. Waymo announced a software recall last week intended to help its fleet avoid flooded areas in San Antonio. where service has been halted for weeks while it worked on a more permanent fix. In Atlanta, at least one robotaxi was spotted getting stuck this week, and Waymo suspended operations there as well.
All of these interruptions land during a push to expand further across the map this year. Waymo’s target is to offer as many as one million paid rides per week by the end of 2026. It is also testing a new Zeekr-built robotaxi called Ojai. and is expected to start offering rides in that vehicle in the coming months.
Waymo’s freeway strategy has been central to why it believes expansion is possible at scale. The company began offering highway rides in late 2025. and putting robotaxis on higher-speed roads has helped it connect riders to local airports while skipping surface streets and cutting trip times. In the Bay Area. freeway travel has dramatically reduced times across the peninsula—trips that previously took anywhere from 45 minutes to over an hour.
For now. the company didn’t point to a single specific incident as the reason it stopped freeway driving this week. Still. Waymo’s robotaxis have been seen struggling in highway construction zones. including a May 19 post on X from user @Elliot_slade. In the video, the user claimed the vehicle “blasted through cones” and said it was “chased” by police.
The pattern is stark when all the road closures are placed side by side: freeway service pauses when highway conditions get complicated, while citywide stops have followed flooding problems. Waymo’s answer in each case has been the same—adjust the software and work to bring affected routes back.
Waymo has not said exactly when freeway service will return in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Miami. What is clear is that the robotaxi network continues elsewhere in those cities. just without the freeway routes while the company folds its latest construction-zone learnings into its system.
Waymo robotaxi freeway service suspended construction zones San Francisco Los Angeles Phoenix Miami software update Ojai Zeekr Atlanta San Antonio flooding software recall
So they can’t handle cones and lane changes now? Wild.
I saw something about Waymo getting stuck in construction areas and thought that was just one car. But now it’s like multiple cities on freeways? Surface streets only feels like a downgrade lol.
This is probably because they’re using the same software recall from that flood thing and just patching it again. Like, if it can’t drive through construction zones, how is it gonna do anything on highways with traffic? Also I don’t get why they’d “resume soon” if they’ve been pausing for weeks already.
Okay but didn’t they say it worked on freeways already? Seems like every time LA gets weird road work they just hit pause. I’m guessing the robotaxis are getting confused by detours, which is honestly what people do too. They mention Phoenix and Miami too, so maybe it’s the GPS map not the actual cars… or maybe it’s just too many robots on the road at once. Anyway, one million rides by 2026 sounds like a lot if they keep suspending whole sections.