“When a freeway route is meaningfully faster, riders can be matched with a freeway trip, providing quicker, smoother, and more efficient rides,” the company said in a statement.
San José Mayor Matt Mahan said the expansion will allow visitors heading to the Bay Area for major sporting events in 2026, including Super Bowl LX and the World Cup, to step “into the future of mobility and entertainment.
“With San José at the center of the biggest sporting events of 2026, we’re helping deliver the most technologically advanced Super Bowl and World Cup experience ever,” he said in a statement.
The scope of Waymo’s San José service will also initially be limited to the city center. Riders can call a car to the Santana Row and Westfield Valley Fair commercial areas or the Newhall, College Park and Cory neighborhoods.
According to SJC, the company plans to expand downtown and to other parts of the city over time, as it has elsewhere in the Bay Area.
In August, Waymo led the return of ride-hailing services on San Francisco’s Market Street, five years after it became car-free, and in September, it received a permit to begin trips to and from San Francisco International Airport. Commercial operations there won’t launch until it’s gone through a phased testing process. The timeline on that is unknown.
