Waymo Ojai vans are now available for all riders in three cities

Waymo has opened up its autonomous minivan service, dubbed Ojai, to all riders across San Francisco, Phoenix, and Los Angeles. Previously limited to select users, the full public rollout marks a significant expansion of driverless vehicle access in three of the country's largest metro areas.

Waymo has completed a broad public rollout of its Ojai driverless minivan service, making the vehicles available to any rider in San Francisco, Phoenix, and Los Angeles — no waitlist or early-access requirement needed. The move represents a meaningful step forward from the company's earlier, more restricted testing phases.

The Ojai vans join Waymo's existing fleet of driverless cars and expand the types of vehicles passengers can request through the app. Minivans naturally offer more interior space, potentially making them attractive for group trips or riders with accessibility needs.

For Waymo, completing this three-city rollout signals growing confidence in both the technology and its operational infrastructure. The company continues to be one of the few autonomous vehicle developers actively offering commercial rides to the general public at this scale.

Waymo has officially opened its Ojai autonomous minivan service to all riders in San Francisco, Phoenix, and Los Angeles, completing what amounts to a full public deployment across three major U.S. cities. Previously, access to the Ojai vans — like much of Waymo's service — was gated behind waitlists or early-access programs, limiting who could experience the driverless rides.

The Ojai minivan is a notable addition to Waymo's fleet because it offers a physically larger cabin compared to the Jaguar I-PACE vehicles the company has relied on heavily. That extra space could appeal to families, small groups, or passengers traveling with larger luggage or mobility equipment, broadening Waymo's potential customer base beyond solo commuters.

The three cities chosen for this rollout are not accidental — San Francisco and Los Angeles represent two of the densest, most complex urban driving environments in the country, while Phoenix has long served as Waymo's original commercial proving ground due to its wide roads and favorable weather. Operating confidently across all three simultaneously speaks to the maturity of Waymo's autonomous systems and back-end logistics.

Why it matters: Autonomous vehicle companies have spent years promising that self-driving technology was just around the corner, and the industry has suffered high-profile setbacks and retreats. Waymo's ability to offer an unrestricted, fully driverless service to the general public in multiple major cities is one of the clearest real-world demonstrations that the technology has crossed an important commercial threshold. Each expansion normalizes the concept for everyday riders and builds the usage data Waymo needs to continue improving.

Looking ahead, the question becomes whether Waymo will use this momentum to push into additional cities or focus on deepening its presence where it already operates. Either way, the full Ojai rollout is a concrete milestone in the slow but steady mainstreaming of autonomous transportation.