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Deployment

Waymo Driver (6th gen) at San Francisco

The sixth-generation Waymo Driver is Waymo's autonomous driving stack for fully autonomous robotaxi service. The platform integrates 13 cameras, 4 lidars, 6 radars, and external audio receivers, with overlapping 360° coverage and a detection range up to roughly 500 meters in nominal conditions. Compared to the fifth-generation system on the Jaguar I-PACE, the sixth-gen system uses 42% fewer total sensors.

Waymo says the per-unit hardware cost is targeted under $20,000 — a more than 50% reduction from the 5th-gen system. Currently runs on the Zeekr RT (sold as the “Ojai” robotaxi, purpose-built without a steering wheel or pedals) and the Hyundai IONIQ 5; began fully autonomous commercial operations in February 2026.

Waymo Driver (6th gen) by Waymo · Machine verified · Robotaxis

Track Waymo Driver (6th gen) at San Francisco

Recent coverage

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Editorial narrative

Waymo San Francisco

The canonical robotaxi-at-scale deployment in 2026. From August 2023 commercial permit through May 2026, Waymo SF grew to 800+ Bay Area vehicles, 24/7 service, freeway operation, and a ~500,000 weekly-rides total across the program.

Footage

Waymo operates fully driverless robotaxi service in San Francisco using Waymo Driver Gen6. Gen6 integrates sensors (LiDAR, cameras, radar) on vehicle body (no rooftop dome), reducing cost while maintaining capability. Service area covers most of SF proper and parts of Peninsula/Daly City.

Rides available 24/7 via Waymo One app. No safety driver in vehicle. Part of 11-city Gen6 commercial network (the largest US robotaxi footprint as of 2026).

Key facts

Service restriction (re-verified 2026-06-07)
Freeway rides temporarily paused city-wide from late May 2026 after construction-zone incidents (driving through cones). Surface-street operations continue.
Technology
Gen6 integrates LiDAR, cameras, and radar on vehicle body with no rooftop dome, reducing cost while maintaining capability
Status
Fully driverless with no safety driver in vehicle
Coverage
Service area covers most of SF proper and parts of Peninsula/Daly City
Hours
Rides available 24/7 via Waymo One app
Scale
Part of 11-city Gen6 commercial network, the largest US robotaxi footprint as of 2026

Exposure

Deployment miles
516,572 (verified_ir)
Customer segment
consumer
Scale tier
undisclosed

Each exposure value carries its own basis marker. Aggregators report a number; this surface preserves the source class so verification depth travels with the value.

Safety record

No incidents on record for Waymo Driver (6th gen) at San Francisco.

Only active incidents are counted. Retracted incidents are excluded from this summary but remain reachable at their canonical URLs.

Trust tier
Machine verifiedhow tiers work →
Last updated
2026-08-21
Model
Waymo Driver (6th gen)
Company
Waymo
Location
United States/California/San Francisco
Operator
Waymo
Status
operational
Operator type
maker operated
Scale at site
undisclosed
Site environment
outdoor
Location precision
verified coordinates
First seen
2024-01-01
ID
0fea382e-acfe-4984-8cf5-7b585f1b3601

Timeline

  1. Jan 2024
    First recorded
    Waymo Driver (6th gen) first documented operating at San Francisco.
  2. May 2026
    created
  3. Jun 2026
    field updated
    sources: source added → Waymo: Waymo Driver Gen6: Our most advanced autonomous driver yet
  4. Jun 2026
    field updated
    key facts: enrichment added → Service restriction (re-verified 2026-06-07)
  5. Jul 2026
    field updated
    deploymentMilesEstimate: unset → 516572
  6. Jul 2026
    field updated
    exposureBasis: unset → verified_ir
  7. Aug 2026
    field updated
    deploymentMilesEstimate: 516572 → 516572
  8. Aug 2026
    field updated
    exposureBasis: verified_ir → verified_ir
  9. Aug 2026
    Current status: operational, reviewed
    Latest recorded state. New status transitions append here as the deployment-status recorder produces them.

Claimed vs. verified

Waymo claims 3,500 Waymo Driver (6th gen) units in the field. DEPLOY has independently verified 29 deployment sites and 1,500 units.

The gap between claimed and verified is the Fleet Reality signal. See the Fleet Reality Index.

On the deployment map

Free to use on your site, with a link back to DEPLOY.

Waymo Driver (6th gen) operates in San Francisco. Explore the full verified map:

Robot-delivery corridors

San Francisco is covered by DEPLOY’s robot-delivery corridor tracking. See the corridor view:

Verifications (1)

  • Machine verified by DEPLOY content-agent (Sprint 1.5 re-verification)2026-05-30

    Evidence: https://waymo.com/updates/

    asOf
    2026-05-30
    basis
    Operating per Waymo official updates and independent May-2026 coverage; not among the flood-paused cities (Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio). Fleet is under an active 3,791-vehicle recall (OTA flood-handling fix).
    status
    active

Sources (10)

  1. TechCrunch: Waymo SF freeway routes suspended, surface streets continuing · https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/waymo-suspends-freeway-service/ · 2026-05-21
  2. Extracted by /admin/extract (awaiting human review) · https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/21/waymo-halts-freeway-rides-after-robotaxis-struggle-in-construction-zones/ · 2026-05-21
  3. https://waymo.com/blog/2024/08/meet-the-6th-generation-waymo-driver/
  4. https://waymo.com/blog/2026/02/ro-on-6th-gen-waymo-driver/
  5. https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/news-and-updates/all-news/cpuc-approves-permits-for-cruise-and-waymo-to-charge-fares-for-passenger-service-in-sf-2023
  6. https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/19/waymo-gets-ok-to-expand-robotaxi-service-into-more-of-silicon-valley/
  7. https://www.cnbc.com/2025/11/12/waymo-robotaxi-starts-freeway-highway-rides.html
  8. https://waymo.com/blog/2026/01/waymo-rides-at-sfo/
  9. https://waymo.com/blog/2025/03/waymo-driver-gen6/
  10. Waymo: Wikipedia · https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waymo · 2020-10-01
Methodology: Verified · 10 sources (3 primary) · last reviewed 2026-08-21

Verification posture

Verified

High confidence

Review state

Stable

Last reviewed 2026-08-21

Maturity + lifecycle

Maturity stage: commercial

Lifecycle: active

Architectural position

Cohort: av

Sources by quality tier

3
secondary-industry-publication
Industry publication
3
primary-company-ir
Company IR disclosure
2
unclassified
Unclassified source
1
secondary-established-publication
Established publication
1
knowledge-base
Knowledge base

The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.

Methodology surface for Waymo Driver (6th gen) at San Francisco.

Common questions

What is the Waymo Driver (6th gen) deployment at San Francisco?
Waymo Driver (6th gen), built by Waymo, is recorded as a deployment at San Francisco on the DEPLOY registry. Waymo operates the deployment directly.
Who operates Waymo Driver (6th gen) at San Francisco?
Waymo, the manufacturer of Waymo Driver (6th gen), operates this deployment directly. This is a maker-deploys-its-own-product arrangement rather than a customer pilot.
When did the Waymo Driver (6th gen) deployment at San Francisco go live?
The deployment is recorded as starting January 1, 2024 on the DEPLOY registry. Earlier activity may exist but is not yet sourced.
Have there been incidents at the Waymo Driver (6th gen) deployment at San Francisco?
No active incidents affecting this deployment are recorded on the DEPLOY registry. Absence of recorded incidents is not a guarantee no incident occurred; DEPLOY records only sourced incidents and suppresses retracted ones.

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