Waymo at San Francisco airport
Driverless rides began serving San Francisco International Airport, at first for a limited set of riders, with pickup at the rental car centre.
Why it matters
An airport is a setting with its own traffic rules, its own operator, and a queue of cars that does not tolerate hesitation; Waymo already served Phoenix Sky Harbor and had access to San Jose Airport, so SFO was not the first.
The company said plainly that it was starting with a select number of riders and would open access gradually over the coming months, and that pickups and dropoffs would begin at the rental car centre, reached by the AirTrain, with terminal access to follow later. TechCrunch traces the approval: a failed attempt at a mapping permit in November 2023, talks restarted in July 2024, a mapping permit in March 2025 with data-sharing strings attached, and a testing and operations pilot permit in September 2025. It mentions no access fees.