Waymo’s Ambitious Expansion Plans: Highways, Airports, and New Cities
Waymo, the self-driving company owned by Alphabet, is set to revolutionize the transportation industry with its rapid expansion plans. Speaking at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana outlined the company’s vision to scale its operations, with a focus on safety above all else. Tekedra Mawakana, co-CEO of Waymo, speaks onstage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 on Oct. 27, 2025 in San Francisco. Photo by Kimberly White/Getty Images for TechCrunch
Expansion Plans and Safety Focus
Waymo plans to increase its weekly autonomous rides from the “hundreds of thousands” to one million by the end of 2026. The company will expand its operations to six new U.S. cities, including Miami, Dallas, Denver, Seattle, Nashville, and Washington, D.C. Mawakana emphasized that the company’s primary focus is on safety, stating that if the safety record were to slip, the expansion would be slowed. Waymo’s safety data, published online, shows that its vehicles are involved in 91 percent fewer high-severity crashes, 78 percent fewer airbag-deployment crashes, and 80 percent fewer injury-causing crashes compared to human drivers.
Highway Testing and Airport Operations
Waymo has begun highway testing through employee trials in Phoenix, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. The company plans to open highway rides to the public by the end of the year. This expansion will also facilitate airport trips, a category that Waymo is “super focused” on. The company has already secured permits to operate at airports in San Francisco and San Jose and hopes to add more as its vehicles become a more common sight on highways.
International Expansion and Transparency
Waymo is also setting its sights overseas, with plans to test operations in Tokyo and launch fully autonomous rides in London in 2026. Mawakana emphasized the importance of transparency, stating that the company is not claiming perfection and is open to discussing the limits of the technology. This approach is reflective of Waymo’s safety-first culture, which prioritizes honesty and openness in its operations.
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