Waymo San Diego Robotaxi Service Opens to All Riders After Rollout

San Diego joins Waymo's driverless map

Waymo now runs fully driverless rides in San Diego. It got there in stages over about three months. The company announced on September 1, 2026 that service was open to the public. At first, people who had joined the waitlist received invitations in batches, and Waymo told local reporters it would take time to get through everyone who signed up.11 At launch you needed an early-access invite code to book a ride. Waymo did not say how many codes it had issued or how it picked recipients.12 On October 14, Waymo ended the invite phase in San Diego, Tampa and San Antonio on the same day, so anyone in those cities can now download the app and hail a car.19 Waymo's San Diego entry in a widely used tracking table now shows full commercial service starting that date.1

The service area runs from Logan Heights to Pacific Beach and from Sunset Cliffs to Normal Heights.11 Accounts of its size differ a little. Local TV described it as about 50 square miles.1112 Less than two weeks earlier, a Waymo spokesperson told public radio it would be closer to 40 square miles at first, and said the area would grow over time.15 One gap is notable. Trips to and from San Diego International Airport were on hold at launch because Waymo was still waiting for a city permit.12

A slow rollout, by design

Waymo didn't rush San Diego. Its cars had been driving central San Diego streets for more than a year with safety drivers at the wheel.17 On July 8, the company said it would start fully driverless operations in San Diego, Las Vegas, Tampa and Denver, with Waymo employees as the only riders at first.14 At that point, Waymo said it was allowed to run driverless rides in San Diego but still needed approval from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to charge fares.13 That approval came in August, and the company said it covered other parts of California as well.15 Waymo's permits from the state DMV and the CPUC now cover Southern California from Thousand Oaks to the Mexican border, east to Interstate 15.1

Waymo has followed the same sequence in its other new cities: drive with safety drivers, carry employees only, take invited public riders, then open to everyone. One analysis of the October 14 openings argued that each launch makes the next one cheaper, because the playbook for first responders, community partners and airport agreements is already written.6 That is commentary, not company data, but the timeline backs it up. Denver, San Diego and Tampa all moved to paid public service on September 1, and Las Vegas followed on September 14.3

San Diego's fleet is small and new. Waymo started there with only a couple dozen of its Ojai vehicles.15 Trackers report that San Diego and Denver began with Ojai-only fleets, while Tampa mixes Ojai vans with older Jaguar I-PACEs.3 The Ojai is built by Zeekr and runs Waymo's sixth-generation driving system. The company has promoted its bigger screens and extra rear legroom.11 According to one compiled fleet profile, about 300 Ojai vans are in service, compared with roughly 3,700 Jaguars.18 That makes San Diego an early test of the vehicle Waymo is counting on to scale.

The national picture

The San Diego launch is part of a fast national expansion. In September 2024 Waymo served only Phoenix, Los Angeles and San Francisco. By late September 2026 it offered robotaxi service in 15 U.S. cities, most of them added within the past year.2 Reported counts differ. Some put Waymo at 14 paid metros after the September 1 launches.18 Others count 15 once Las Vegas opened.3 The difference comes down to timing and how each tracker defines a launched market. It doesn't change the trend.

Compiled figures put Waymo's fleet at more than 4,000 vehicles and over 500,000 paid rides a week. Its stated goal is 1 million weekly rides by the end of 2026.183 The fleet is concentrated, though. About 80% of those robotaxis are in California and Texas, and Waymo's Texas fleet grew by about half over three weeks in September.2 That suggests the newest cities, San Diego included, are getting relatively small first deployments. Each city starts with dozens of vehicles, not hundreds.3 For riders, an "open to everyone" announcement can still mean long waits until more cars arrive.

The list of upcoming cities is long. Waymo names Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, New York, Seattle and Washington, D.C., among others, plus London and Tokyo. Trackers note these are plans, not launch dates.3 Waymo has said a Tokyo launch in 2027 depends on regulatory approval and on finishing validation of its technology.7 The company also has deep pockets for the build-out. It raised $16 billion in February 2026 at a $126 billion valuation.18

Competition arrives quickly

Waymo won't have San Diego to itself for long. Amazon-owned Zoox said it planned to start testing its own robotaxis in San Diego by the end of September.12 Trackers list Zoox as testing in the city, announced the same day Waymo launched.3 Elsewhere the rivalry is further along. Tesla runs robotaxi service in Tampa, and Zoox carries paying public riders on the Las Vegas Strip.3 Even so, Waymo is described as the only U.S. robotaxi operator running driverless service at real commercial scale.3 When Waymo announced the four-city expansion in July, business coverage framed it as widening that lead over Tesla and Zoox.14

Local resistance, without local power

The sharpest local tension is political, and San Diego has had little say. In California, the state CPUC and DMV issue driverless permits, not city governments. City Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera led efforts in January that produced two statements. The Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) board voted to oppose driverless expansion without local oversight, and a resolution asked the state to give cities back the power to decide.1317 "San Diego is not a testing lab," Elo-Rivera said, pointing to job losses and public safety.13 After the CPUC approved Waymo's service, he said the fight wasn't over, and the MTS board's opposition had not changed the result.15 The head of the United Taxi Workers of San Diego said drivers were already struggling and that Waymo would make things worse.15

This split shows up in statewide politics too. California lawmakers have tried to limit the industry, but Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed two of those bills, and other proposals have stalled.17 Our reading is that until Sacramento changes the law, San Diego's opposition can shape public opinion but can't stop deployment.

Public opinion is mixed, and the reasons go beyond whether the technology works. A UC San Diego analysis of Pew survey data found that about 85% of respondents expect widespread driverless vehicles to eliminate ride-hailing and delivery jobs. Close to half said the vehicles would widen income gaps.17 The study found interest highest among educated, tech-savvy people. Lower-income and non-urban residents were much more skeptical.17

The case for, and the caveats

Waymo's safety argument rests on its own numbers. The company says its vehicles were involved in 94% fewer crashes causing serious or fatal injuries than human drivers in the same areas. Physicians who wrote an open letter backing driverless cars said they relied on Waymo's data. They called for standard federal reporting rules for all operators for exactly that reason.17 Our view is that the safety case is promising, but it hasn't been checked independently in the way the industry's boosters suggest.

The accessibility argument may matter more locally. A member of the National Federation of the Blind's San Diego chapter called the service a game changer, citing Braille on the door handles and an easy-to-use interface.11 Advocates for older adults said robotaxis could help seniors stay mobile on short trips that human drivers often don't want to take.1219

The service has known problems. Waymo cars have flooded the charging spots San Diego electric-vehicle drivers depend on. The company says it mainly uses its own depot but wouldn't say where it is.1115 Nationally, Waymo vehicles have driven into flooded roads. Around the Fourth of July in San Francisco, some sat in traffic until their batteries died, and one drove into fireworks.14 San Antonio service was paused for months after flooding in April and resumed only in September.3

What to watch

In the next phase, opening the service is less important than fleet size, airport access and how residents react. Waymo has the permits, the capital and a tested rollout process. Whether it can win over the skeptics who outnumber its early adopters will depend on how its cars handle San Diego's streets over the coming months.