Waymo in San Francisco and the Bay Area

Short answer: Waymo is open to everyone in San Francisco and down the Peninsula and Silicon Valley to San Jose and Campbell. It serves San José airport (SJC) and the SFO Rental Car Center, runs 24/7, and averaged about $20 a ride in an independent study. Freeway trips have been paused in the Bay Area since May 2026.

San Francisco is where most people take their first robotaxi ride, and where Waymo has operated the longest after Phoenix. The service area is now one of the largest in the country. For other cities, see every Waymo city.

Where Waymo goes in the Bay Area

• San Francisco: the whole city, from the Embarcadero and downtown to the Sunset, Richmond, Mission, Castro and Presidio.
• The Peninsula: cities along the corridor south of the city, added in late 2025, when the Bay Area area passed 260 square miles.
• Silicon Valley: Mountain View, Palo Alto, Sunnyvale and central San Jose (Santana Row, Westfield Valley Fair), plus San Jose and Campbell neighborhoods added on May 20, 2026.

The live service area is always in the Waymo app. If your destination is just outside, the app will suggest the nearest point it can reach.

Airports: SJC and SFO

San José (SJC) was the first California airport with Waymo, in November 2025. Pickups are at the Ground Transportation Centers at both terminals. San Francisco (SFO) followed on January 29, 2026, with pickups and drop-offs at the Rental Car Center, connected to the terminals by the free AirTrain. SFO access started with a limited group of riders. More in Waymo at the airport.

Freeways: paused in the Bay Area

Waymo started freeway trips on Bay Area highways in November 2025, then paused freeway service in all cities in May 2026 to fix how its cars handle construction-zone ramp closures. It resumed in Phoenix on July 29, 2026 and says other cities will follow. Until then, long trips such as San Francisco to San Jose or to SFO use surface streets.

What a Waymo costs in San Francisco

Waymo doesn't publish a rate card, but it shows the full price before you book. In a study of more than 94,000 simulated ride requests in the Bay Area (late November 2025 to January 1, 2026), the ride-hailing comparison app Obi found an average Waymo fare of $19.69, against $17.47 for Uber and $15.47 for Lyft. In a follow-up covering March and April 2026, Obi said average Waymo fares in San Francisco had risen about 18%. Expect higher prices on Friday and Saturday nights. Full breakdown in how much Waymo costs.

Other robotaxis in the Bay Area

• Zoox: free rides in Amazon's purpose-built robotaxi for people on its public waitlist in San Francisco. California doesn't yet allow Zoox to charge. See our Zoox guide.
• Tesla: Tesla runs a ride-hail service with a human safety driver under a charter-party permit. It is not a driverless robotaxi in California.
• Nuro and Uber: testing with Uber employees; a public launch is targeted for late 2026.

Bay Area tips

• Waymo cars avoid stopping in bus lanes and at red curbs, so your pickup point may be a few steps from your door.
• After concerts and Giants or Warriors games, demand spikes. Walk a few blocks away from the venue before booking.
• Waymo is a good late-night option: it runs 24/7 and you are alone in the car.
• California's new law (AB 1777, in force since July 1, 2026) lets police issue "notices of noncompliance" to robotaxi companies for traffic violations. It doesn't change anything for you as a rider.

Frequently asked questions