The California Public Utilities Commission has approved Waymo’s request to expand its commercial Robotax service area, opening the door for the Alphabet Company to bring driverless vehicles to more communities south of San Francisco.
The company said in a post on X that approval would not change plans in the short term. Today, Waymo operates commercial Robotaxi services in everything in San Francisco and in parts of the peninsula. It also offers unmanned rides to pay customers across several Silicon Valley cities, including Mountain View, Palo Alto, Los Altos and parts of Sunnyvale. Overall, the company’s service area is approximately 85 square miles covering San Francisco and Silicon Valley.
The company also aims to unlock access to San Francisco International Airport, but these plans are on a much longer timeline. Waymo was granted permission in March to map SFO roads via a temporary permit. Waymo vehicles do not operate autonomously at airports. Employees drive the vehicle manually to map the area. However, the permit marks the beginning of a gradual approach to Waymo, which is ultimately operating there.
Waymo offers 250,000 paid trips per week throughout its entire business. This extends to Los Angeles, Phoenix and, more recently, Austin.