In a first for the U.S., Waymo on Nov. 12 will start offering driverless robot-taxi rides on freeways in the Bay Area, along with Los Angeles and Phoenix.

The pioneering Google spinoff will also expand service down the Peninsula all the way into San Jose, and serve riders to and from Mineta San Jose International Airport, creating broad new trip-taking opportunities for residents and visitors.

Waymo co-CEO Dmitri Dolgov said the Mountain View company had been targeting freeways since Google launched its autonomous vehicle project in 2009.

“Freeway driving is one of those things that is very easy to learn but very hard to master,” Dolgov said last week during a press event preceding Wednesday’s public announcement of the freeway service.

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