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Waymo’s extended robot taxi service area in San Francisco. | Source: Waymo
Waymo continues to expand its robotaxi operations in California. Alphabet’s autonomous driving unit is expanding its service areas in San Francisco and Los Angeles as it seeks to attract more riders and grow its business.
His robotaxis is now available for the first time on the San Francisco Peninsula, which is south of the city. The company is adding 10 square miles to cover Daly City, Broadmoor and Colma, bringing its total continuous service area in SF to 55 square miles.
Starting today, Waymo is expanding its service area in LA to include Marina del Rey, Mar Vista, Playa Vista and other areas of Hollywood, Chinatown and Westwood. Riders can explore a total of 79 square miles of LA County.
The public has taken more than 2 million paid journeys and its robotaxax has traveled more than 20 million miles fully autonomously.
“Our team is laser-focused on improving Waymo One to make it as smooth and useful as possible for our riders,” said Saswat Panigrahi, Waymo Chief Product Officer. “That means offering exceptional ride quality, short wait times and more exciting destinations. We’re committed to California, where many of our team members call home, so it’s really special to be able to bring the benefits of full autonomy to even more people in San Francisco and Los Angeles.”
Waymo’s expanded LA robotaxi service area. | Source: Waymo
Waymo is reaching new milestones
Waymo eliminated its waiting list in San Francisco in June 2024. Previously, it had been gradually accepting new riders in the city and is now opening its service to everyone. Since removing the waiting list, the company says it has seen incredible demand from locals and visitors to the city.
The company has also made significant progress in LA in 2024. It launched commercial operations in the city in March, with more than 150,000 people on the waiting list. Waymo says it has scaled to match the supply of vehicles with rider demand.
Waymo One continues to grow in all three of its commercial service locations, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Phoenix, Arizona. Currently, the company claims to provide more than 50,000 paid rides per week in all three cities.
Last month, Alphabet CFO Ruth Porat said she was committing to a multi-year investment of up to $5 billion in Waymo.
“For other bets, we continue to focus on improving overall efficiency as we invest to achieve long-term returns,” she explained. “Waymo is an important example of this with its technical leadership coupled with advances in operational performance.”