You’ll soon be able to step off a plane in San Francisco and hail a robotaxi.
San Francisco International Airport is signing a permit that will allow Waymo to begin operations. Waymo will roll out at the Bay Area’s busiest airport in three phases: testing vehicles in autonomous mode with a safety driver, opening up rides to Waymo employees and airport staff, and, finally, kicking off commercial operations. SFO did not provide a timeline for these phases.
“Across San Francisco, we are expanding safe, reliable, and modern transportation options,” Mayor Daniel Lurie said in a statement. “We announced in March that we wanted visitors to be able to ride in a Waymo as soon as they arrived in San Francisco, and today, we are taking another important step to get there.”
SFO is the second airport in California to permit Waymo to operate on its grounds. San José Mineta International Airport this month announced that Waymo will launch a commercial service by the end of the year.
San Franciscans have anxiously waited for Waymo to make inroads at SFO. In December alone, more than 13,000 people searched for SFO on the Waymo app, and around 700 people installed the app while physically at the airport. A July 2024 survey by Waymo found that 89% of riders in the Bay Area are interested in using the service to get to and from SFO.
Discussions between SFO and Waymo have been rocky since they began talking in 2023. Communications between the two parties have included rejection notes, a harshly worded cease-and-desist letter, and contentious contract negotiations, public records show. After protracted negotiations, Waymo received the green light to map SFO in March.
The move comes ahead of the Bay Area hosting major sporting events next year at Levi’s Stadium, including Super Bowl LX and the FIFA World Cup. San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan told The Standard last week that he hopes the more than 500,000 expected visitors will use Waymos instead of rented cars to travel around the Bay Area.