Seniors enjoy riding autonomous vehicles, Waymo has reached 10 million rides served

SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie has gradually expanded Waymo's autonomous vehicle service areas to downtown Market Street and San Francisco International Airport (SFO). While Waymo is actively encouraging all ages including seniors trying their robotaxi services.

San Francisco downtown Market Street was closed to private vehicles for years under previous mayoral administration. Westfield Shopping Mall on Market Street and nearby stores have had a 90% vacancy rate in recent years that was partially related to the City's policy including restrictions for private vehicles entering Market Street in downtown until August 26, 2025.

"Starting August 26th, Waymo, along with a limited number of Uber and Lyft Black vehicles, will be allowed on Market Street during off-peak hours," Lurie said in the announcement of opening up Market Street to private commercial vehicles for ride hailing services. "This corridor is key to our city’s recovery, and expanding transportation options will help bring residents back to enjoy everything it has to offer."

"We are announcing that Waymo alongside Uber and Lyft Black services are going to be allowed to bring people down on Market Street for pick up and drop off. This is really an important development because we got to get more people downtown," Lurie said it was an effort to revitalize San Francisco’s iconic Market Street corridor.

"We are also increasing Muni service to get people downtown and we are going to monitor its service level and speed for Muni. That should not be impacted. We will continue to assess the results. We want people to continue biking, walking, but we are having this service. Restaurants are going to be benefited.Our shopping district is going to be benefited and get people back to downtown.This is one way to do it. Let's go to San Francisco," Lurie added.

Lurie announced on September 16 that the San Francisco International Airport (SFO) has signed a Testing and Operations Pilot Permit for autonomous vehicles with Waymo, allowing the company to begin operating at the airport.

Waymo's operations will be rolled out in three phases at SFO, including testing the vehicles with a human driver, testing the vehicles without a human driver with Waymo and airport employees, and eventually beginning commercial operations of paid-for-hire autonomous services for Waymo customers, according to Lurie.

Waymo was started as Google's self-driving project in 2009 and became an independent company in 2016 with its headquarters in Mountain View. Phoenix became Waymo’s first metro city to launch its fully autonomous rider service in 2018. San Francisco was the second city to begin the Waymo service in 2022, followed by Los Angeles in 2023. Atlanta and Austin have followed. Miami, Washington, DC and Dallas are on the list for launching Waymo autonomous service.

Waymo announced on May 20, 2025 that its service has reached over 10 million rides in five regions nationwide, Phoenix, San Francisco and Silicon Valley, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Austin.

It is widely assumed that most of Waymo riders are young professionals. However, many seniors who do not drive due to their ages are interested in knowing more about the autonomous vehicle service that they can call for services anytime without relying on their children or friends.

Koletti Leha Ieremia, Director of Senior/Family Services and Community Relations at Telegraph Hill Neighborhood Center, invited Waymo to introduce its autonomous service to their seniors on August 22 after a 4-month planning.

"This idea began when one of our seniors shared that her birthday wish was to ride in a Waymo. That simple wish sparked the idea of partnering with Waymo, and after four months of planning, we were able to make it happen," Leha Ieremia said with excitement as did the seniors who joined the event and rides.

"We had four Waymo staff representatives supporting the event, and the experience was offered in both English and Cantonese. Participants learned about autonomous driving technology and how to download and use the app to request a ride," said Leha Ieremia.

"One highlight was seeing 91-year-old Teresa Yee take her very first ride. With four Waymo cars available, each participant enjoyed a 10–15 minute trip. Teresa shared that she never imagined she would get the chance and the smiles and excitement from everyone truly said it all," Leha Ieremia added. "In total, 23 participants had the opportunity to ride, and we are already discussing a second event for early next year."

Seniors who participated in the event all agreed that they felt safe during the rides the whole time including traveling through the hills up and down around North Beach and nearby Chinatown.

"It was a wonderful and fun trip," Kathy Tam said after taking the ride. "It doesn't seem too difficult to call for Waymo service. I am comfortable with using cell phone apps. There are many features and advantages for riding in a Waymo car. We can listen to music. We can speak to a live person if there are any emergencies inside and out of Waymo cars. We can take our time to get into the car and load luggages to the trunk, especially for seniors, no one rushes us."

Anjelica Price-Rocha, Public Relations Manager of Waymo, told Wind Newspaper that Waymo welcomes members of all ages and communities to try its driverless services. "Waymo has worked with an array of senior groups and other community organizations that have been historically challenged when it comes to transportation options."

For more information on partnerships, the public may visit its webpage: www.waymo.com/community/voices.

In addition to Spanish and Chinese, Price-Rocha said Waymo has added dozens of languages to its iPhone Operating System for riders locally and coming from all over the world.

Waymo has just begun driving along San Francisco downtown Market Street for several weeks. "We are thrilled that San Franciscans have embraced Waymo in their daily lives since our commercial launch in the city in 2023, and we’re encouraged that the Waymo Driver is already making roads safer where we operate," said Tekedra Mawakana, Co-CEO of Waymo.

"Every week residents and visitors alike take tens of thousands of trips across the city to work, to shop, to the doctor’s office, or even for date night—often in combination with one of the many other modes of transportation available in San Francisco. We’re honored that Mayor Lurie has invited us to serve as a mobility option on San Francisco’s historic Market Street," Mawakana said.