‘Barron’s Roundtable’ panelists talk about the expansion of autonomous ride-shares and what Waymo’s success means for the business.
Waymo is quickly halting freeway operations for its robotaxi service in a number of U.S. markets as the corporate works to deal with efficiency points in building zones, FOX Enterprise has discovered.
The Alphabet-owned firm confirmed Thursday that it was pausing freeway operations whereas updating its software program.
“Security is Waymo’s prime precedence, each for our riders and everybody we share the highway with,” a Waymo spokesperson stated in an announcement to FOX Enterprise. “Now we have quickly paused freeway operations, as we work to combine latest technical learnings into our software program and anticipate to renew these routes quickly.”
Waymo stated the pause impacts solely freeway driving and that floor road operations stay lively.
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A Waymo automobile drives with site visitors on Dec. 27, 2025. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune/Tribune Information Service by way of Getty Photographs / Getty Photographs)
The corporate stated its automobiles navigate building zones greater than 10,000 occasions per day and that it’s utilizing the pause to enhance robotaxi efficiency on freeways.
The announcement comes after Waymo paused operations in Atlanta following flash-flooding incidents, whereas individually working to enhance efficiency round building zones and flooded roadways.
That pause adopted stories of Waymo automobiles encountering floodwater in Atlanta on Wednesday; AJC reported one automobile required restoration, whereas Waymo stated a handful of others had been quickly waylaid.
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A Waymo autonomous taxi on Bush Road in San Francisco, California, US, on Dec. 17, 2025. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg by way of Getty Photographs / Getty Photographs)
The transfer additionally comes after Waymo filed a recall overlaying 3,791 automobiles geared up with fifth- and sixth-generation Automated Driving Programs over a flooding-related software program concern that NHTSA stated may end in lack of automobile management.
The recall adopted an April 20 incident wherein an unoccupied Waymo automobile detected a probably untraversable flooded part of a roadway with a 40 mph pace restrict and proceeded at diminished pace, based on NHTSA.
| Ticker | Safety | Final | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GOOG | ALPHABET INC. | 383.47 | -1.43 | -0.37% |
The NHTSA report discovered that when a Waymo robotaxi approaches standing water on higher-speed roads, it might decelerate however fail to completely cease after detecting the hazard.
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Waymo automobile approaching the curb to choose up a passenger on February 19, 2026. (Smith Assortment/Gado/Getty Photographs / Getty Photographs)
Practically 3,800 automobiles geared up with the corporate’s fifth and sixth-generation Automated Driving Programs (ADS) had been recalled. Regulators estimated the defect price at 100%.
Based on NHTSA, Waymo utilized an interim treatment to all affected automobiles on April 20, modifying the permitted scope of operation of its ADS to exclude extra circumstances that current an elevated danger of encountering a flooded, higher-speed roadway. Waymo remains to be creating a last treatment.
Waymo operates 1000’s of automobiles throughout the U.S., together with in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Austin.
FOX Enterprise’ Bonny Chu and Reuters contributed to this report.
