Stanford Athletics partners with Waymo for autonomous ride-hailing service on campus

Stanford Athletics announced in February that it will partner with Waymo, naming the autonomous vehicle company its official ride-hailing service. Both Stanford Athletics and Waymo are calling it a first-of-its-kind collaboration in college athletics.

The partnership, which went public on Feb. 20, introduces Waymo’s fully autonomous ride-hailing service to Stanford’s campus as an expansion of the company’s presence in the Bay Area. 

The partnership was facilitated by Elevate, a sports marketing and sponsorship agency that collaborated with Stanford Athletics to structure the agreement.

Cory Shakarian, Stanford Athletics’ head of revenue, wrote in an email to The Daily that Stanford’s location in Silicon Valley uniquely positions the athletics department to pursue partnerships with technology companies.

“Stanford has a long tradition of entrepreneurial leadership and technological innovation,” Shakarian wrote.

For Stanford Athletics, it represents a partnership with emerging technology that is embedded in Stanford’s research ecosystem.

“With deep roots at Stanford, a strong presence across the Bay Area — especially on the Peninsula — and growing demand from our community for Waymo service, we recognized a unique opportunity to create a partnership that benefits all stakeholders,” Shakarian wrote to The Daily.

The DARPA Challenges were funded by the U.S. Department of Defense as a prize competition for American autonomous vehicles. Stanford’s entry in the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge, a vehicle named “Stanley,” won the competition by autonomously navigating a 132-mile desert course. Sebastian Thrun, the Stanford professor who led the project, later founded Google’s self-driving car initiative in 2009. The project was part of a Google X lab led by Sergey Brin M.S. ’95 that developed Waymo in 2016.

“This environment creates unique opportunities for Stanford Athletics,” Shakarian wrote. “A key long-term goal is to identify and partner with forward-thinking technology companies that can enhance the experience for our student-athletes, fans, the Stanford community and beyond.”

Waymo’s service at Stanford is designed to balance accessibility with campus logistics. On high-volume event days, service will operate at the Oval and a designated location on Museum Way. On non-event days, routes, pick-ups and drop-offs will be limited to the Oval and the Stanford Visitor Center.

The Museum Way location will be available five hours before and two hours after large events and will be shared across all three approved ridesharing services operating on campus. Rideshare access has recently been expanded to include two more locations: Escondido Village and the Stanford Visitor Center.

Stanford encourages feedback from the community through QR codes displayed at each pickup and drop-off site.

According to Shakarian, the partnership aligns with several core values and strategic priorities for Stanford Athletics, including sustainability, innovation, accessibility and enhanced spectator experience.

“Stanford leads the way in sustainability, innovation, and transportation access,” Shakarian wrote. “Through this partnership with Waymo, we look to enhance these core values in new and unique ways.”

The collaboration also reflects Stanford Athletics’ broader approach to corporate partnerships in an era of increasing commercialization.

“Now more than ever in our history, Stanford Athletics is committed to growing new commercial partnerships which benefit our student-athletes, coaches, staff, faculty and community,” Shakarian wrote.

Beyond game-day transportation, Shakarian emphasized that Waymo’s role extends throughout the year.

“Throughout the year, Waymo offers our campus community an innovative mobility option for everyday travel — whether getting to class, practices or events — while showcasing how Stanford Athletics embraces emerging technologies rooted in its own research ecosystem,” he wrote.

Benefits for the campus community, according to Stanford Athletics, include access to a new ride-hailing service, a safe autonomous transportation option on game days and year-round, enhanced sustainability through electric autonomous vehicles and greater accessibility for students, faculty and fans.

Waymo continues to expand its fully autonomous ride-hailing service across major U.S. cities. According to the company, its service has completed over 20 million trips in the San Francisco Bay Area, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Austin, Atlanta and Miami. Waymo vehicles have autonomously driven over 200 million miles on public roads.

“Waymo is proud to partner with Stanford Athletics to keep students, faculty and Cardinal fans connected to campus,” wrote Lynda Chen, Brand Marketing Lead at Waymo, in the partnership announcement. “Waymo provides a safe, reliable and magical experience that riders can count on, whether arriving on game day or studying on the way to a final exam.”

The Daily has reached out to Waymo for additional comment.

Not all Stanford students are eager riders. In a post on X, Abdumalik Abdukayumov Ph.D. ’30, described an experience with Waymo in San Francisco. 

“Because of ‘power shortage’ — no electricity in SF, we [were] stuck in the middle of the road. It was the first experience for my friend from North Carolina,” Abdukayumov wrote. 

For now, students, faculty and fans attending Cardinal sporting events will have the option to arrive via the same autonomous technology that got its start on The Farm two decades ago.

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