Waymo Opens Driverless Freeway Rides to Uber Passengers in Austin
Waymo has begun offering fully autonomous freeway rides in Austin to passengers who book through Uber, expanding a service that until now was limited to surface streets in the Texas capital.
Sam Okonkwo, Robotaxi · Sept. 24, 2026 · 4 min
AUSTIN - Waymo has begun offering fully autonomous freeway rides in Austin to passengers who book through Uber, expanding a service that until now was limited to surface streets in the Texas capital.
Riders may now be routed onto freeways on select trips, the company told CBS Austin. Waymo said it is rolling the feature out gradually and will extend it to more riders over time. "Austin riders can now experience the full breadth of what the Waymo Driver has to offer, including getting where they're going faster and more efficiently on freeways," a Waymo spokesperson said.
The expansion follows months of freeway testing in Austin, including trips taken by company employees and rides supervised by Waymo specialists. Waymo told CBS Austin it has been testing fully autonomous operations on Austin freeways since February 2026, after earlier specialist-supervised runs. The company already offers autonomous freeway rides in Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Miami, and said it has logged more than 1 million fully autonomous freeway miles with riders in those cities.
Waymo has offered driverless rides in Austin through Uber since March 2025. Until this rollout, those trips stayed on surface streets. Under Texas Senate Bill 2807, commercial autonomous vehicles registered with the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles are authorized to operate on public roads; CBS Austin reported that no separate freeway authorization is required for the expansion.
Sources
Sam Okonkwo, Robotaxi. Sam Okonkwo is a senior correspondent covering robotaxis, fleet ops, and paid driverless service. Previously reported transport tech for trade titles; based in Austin.
