Waymo has received a permit to deploy its robotaxi service at San Francisco International Airport, a closely watched milestone for airport ground transportation and the larger rollout of autonomous vehicle services in the Bay Area. The authorization, which city officials and SFO announced Monday, authorizes a staged rollout that will start with safety driver tests and eventually expand to full autonomous rides for members of the public.
What SFO’s new permit actually allows on airport roads
The partnership permits Waymo to drive on specific roadways and property at SFO, with its initial passenger pick-ups and drop-offs restricted to the airport’s own separate Kiss & Fly area — an AirTrain ride from the terminals. That geofenced start is a reflection of how airports usually pilot new ground transportation modes: at a controlled location with easier traffic flows, and clean wayfinding for riders.
Prior to this step, SFO allowed Waymo to map the airport roadways; a necessary condition for the company’s high-definition perception stack. Waymo will have to meet strict safety, data reporting and reliability requirements under the new permit, the airport said. SFO leaders have cast the change as one component in a larger push to make trips safer, more predictable and more sustainable — especially during peak travel periods that see curbside congestion put pressure on operations.
How Waymo’s SFO robotaxi rollout will work
The liftoff occurs in three stages. For starters, Waymo will run supervised tests, with a human driver in the car. Next, the company will offer fully autonomous rides to its employees and some airport staff. And only then will paying customers be able to order a ride to and from SFO using the Waymo app.
From the start, riders will hail vehicles in Kiss & Fly, a wayfinding and curb space that can be handled with less conflict than curbs at the terminal. Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport has a similar setup for Waymo rides at its 44th Street Sky Train Station, which is a tested model of off-terminal AV pickup that avoids bottlenecks and is consistent with current airport operations.
Look for gradual improvements: signage, app-deployed guidance to AirTrain connections and operational tweaks after feedback from riders and an examination of performance data. Accessibility and luggage-handling processes are often the focus of airport pilots, too, typical early considerations that will be essential to earning riders’ confidence.
Regulatory Guardrails and Safety Context
Airport consent is just one part of the regulatory jigsaw. AV testing and deployment permits are overseen by the Department of Motor Vehicles in California, and paid passenger service is regulated by the California Public Utilities Commission. Waymo already operates commercially on a limited basis in portions of the Bay Area under oversight by the CPUC; this SFO permit adds airport property to that footprint with additional conditions specific to those locations.
Safety scrutiny remains intense. After high-profile incidents led the California DMV to suspend Cruise’s California permit, regulators have highlighted transparent reporting and staged expansion. Reports from Waymo have laid out safety performance comparisons between robotaxi crash rates and human driver benchmarks, and independent assessments by groups such as the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety have called for standardized, outcome-based metrics for AV performance. The airport backdrop — dense, heavily rule-bound and brimming with edge cases like erratic curb behavior and unexpected vehicle types — will be an important proving ground.
Airports are emerging as the next major AV testing grounds
Airports concentrate a predictable, point-to-point demand at all hours that lends itself well to autonomous fleets. They are also the linchpin for where policy, operations and public sentiment come together. And if AVs can perform well at an international airport — with all the shuttle traffic, construction and capacity surges tied to flight banks present there — that level of performance is transferable to other complex urban nodes.
Waymo has already been serving Phoenix Sky Harbor, and San José Mineta International Airport just gave its blessing to operate in California as well, which makes SFO a valuable addition to a small but strategically influential list.
What travelers should expect from Waymo’s SFO service
In the short term, the service will be provided with limited hours and defined pickup locations, with expansion phased in as Waymo and SFO confirm reliability and capacity.
Pricing is usually comparable to ride-hail averages in each market, but the real differences are often predictability and wait times. Look for the app to feature crisp, clear instructions on how to access Kiss & Fly via AirTrain and to bring customer support for first-time users more prominently to the surface.
This pilot doesn’t replace conventional ride-hail or taxis at SFO, but it does add an additional lane of ground access that can alleviate the pressure during crunch periods.
If performance meets the airport’s safety and service standards, it can then expand — perhaps to more pickup points or greater volume — on a timeline based on data rather than buzz.
For Waymo, gaining a foothold in one of the country’s busiest and most tightly regulated airports is both a boost to its credibility and a test. For travelers from SFO and the Bay Area, it’s a baby step toward a self-driving option that will need to prove itself the old-fashioned way — by being safe, reliable and not overly complicated.
