Waymo, Alphabet’s self-driving technology company, has received official approval from the California Public Utilities Commission to expand its commercial robotaxi service further into Silicon Valley. This regulatory green light will allow Waymo to bring its driverless ride-hailing vehicles into more communities south of San Francisco.
Currently, Waymo operates its autonomous vehicle service in all of San Francisco and across several Silicon Valley cities including Mountain View, Palo Alto, Los Altos, and Sunnyvale covering a robotaxi service area of roughly 85 square miles.
While Waymo announced the approval on X (formerly Twitter), the company emphasized that it won’t change its immediate plans. However, the long-term vision includes mapping and eventually offering autonomous services at San Francisco International Airport (SFO). For now, Waymo has only received a temporary permit to manually map roadways at the airport.
Waymo continues to grow steadily, now providing over 250,000 paid robotaxi rides each week across cities like Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Austin. With Silicon Valley expansion underway, the company is one step closer to mainstreaming driverless transportation in major U.S. metro areas.
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