Waymo offers $2.85 credit when riders link a Waymo trip to public transit

# What the program is

Waymo is rewarding riders who combine an autonomous ride with a public transit trip. If you link a Visa debit or credit card in the Waymo app and use that same card for a Waymo ride and a public transit ride within two hours, Waymo will automatically place $2.85 of "Waymo Cash" in your account. That Waymo Cash can be spent on future Waymo rides.

# How it works, step by step

• Link a Visa card to your Waymo app. The offer currently works only with Visa cards.
• Take a public transit trip and a Waymo trip using the same linked Visa card within a two-hour window.
• Waymo credits $2.85 in Waymo Cash to your account automatically after the paired trips.

# Where it's available and where it started

Waymo initially ran a similar trial in Los Angeles and San Francisco. The expanded rollout begins in the San Francisco Bay Area and will be made available to riders there first. Waymo has said it intends to broaden the program to other cities and to other payment processors over time, but no specific timelines or cities were announced in the report.

# Why $2.85

Waymo set the credit at $2.85 to mirror a common transit fare level in San Francisco. The credit amount was used in prior local discount arrangements that paired regional transit services such as BART and SF Muni.

# Who Waymo expects to use it

Waymo reports that in its most mature markets—San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Phoenix—more than half of its riders also use public transit. That overlap makes transit-linked incentives an obvious fit for the company's customer base, and Waymo expects the offer to see meaningful uptake where both transit and robotaxi service exist.

# Limits and practical notes

• Only Visa cards are supported at launch. Waymo says it wants to expand to other payment processors later.
• The two-hour pairing window is the required timing between the transit ride and the Waymo ride to qualify for the credit.
• The $2.85 is issued as in-app Waymo Cash rather than a direct refund to the card.

# Context and relevance

The program is designed to make it easier and cheaper to combine public transit with short first- or last-mile trips by robotaxi. It builds on local fare structures and earlier trials and seeks to connect Waymo service to existing transit networks rather than replace them.

# Bottom line

If you frequently use both transit and Waymo in the Bay Area and you can link a Visa card, you can earn a small credit toward future robotaxi rides by pairing a transit trip and a Waymo trip within two hours. Expect the program to expand in geography and payment options, but for now the offer is limited to Visa users in the initial Bay Area rollout.