Waymo has begun offering customers freeway rides in Austin after months of testing its vehicles on the city’s freeways.
The company launched its autonomous fleet with Uber in Austin in the spring of 2025; customer freeway rides are a later step in that local rollout.
The expansion comes as Waymo builds out its Austin footprint.
Waymo’s Austin Fleet and Footprint
CBS Austin has reported that Waymo operates 200 autonomous vehicles across a 130-square-mile footprint in the city.
Waymo began limited driverless operation in Austin in 2024, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Some Austin riders have booked Waymo rides through Uber.
Waymo Cars Are Also Hunting Potholes
Beyond ferrying passengers, Austin’s Waymo fleet has taken on an unusual side gig: pothole patrol. Vehicle sensors that detect road jolts send location data to Austin’s Transportation and Public Works Department and the Waze for Cities platform, the same CBS Austin report notes. Waymo and Waze are testing the free pilot program this year to see whether it can effectively supplement the city’s 311 reporting system, which fielded roughly 1,800 pothole repairs in 2025. Since April, the report states, Waymo and Waze have flagged four dozen road hazards to city officials.
There’s also a new regulatory layer to Waymo’s Texas operations. Axios has reported on a new law requiring autonomous-vehicle companies to be certified with the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles, adding a compliance step to the company’s expansion plans in the state.
Freeway Rollout, State Rules and Austin Repairs
The Texas Senate Research Center’s analysis of S.B. 2807 describes two conditions for commercial driverless passenger or property operations on Texas roads: operators must receive and maintain TxDMV authorization, and DPS must receive a plan explaining how emergency responders should interact with the vehicles. Austin’s street-repair guidance directs residents to submit requests through 3-1-1 online, by app or by phone.
What the Safety Data Shows
Across four deployment areas—San Francisco, Phoenix, Los Angeles, and Austin—an IIHS study covering 2021 through 2024 found Waymo’s overall crash involvement rate was 68% lower than that of human drivers, based on roughly 50 million miles of driverless operation. In Austin specifically, the same study found Waymo’s crash involvement rate was 4% higher than human drivers, though the institute cautioned that the local sample size was relatively small.
As of December 2025, the company’s lifetime totals stood at 20 million commercially paid fully autonomous trips and 200 million fully autonomous driving miles.
