Waymo robotaxi gets approval in California

Waymo, the driverless taxi service company, received approval from the California Public Utilities Commission on Friday to operate in some parts of the state.

The regulator for autonomous vehicle service said that it has approved a request by the Alphabet-owned company to expand its operations in the Bay Area and Los Angeles County. The request was filed on January 19 with regulatory requirements, reports the San Francisco Chronicle.

Waymo could run its robotaxis on local roads and freeways at a maximum speed of 65 mph but CPUC has not revealed any restrictions on the fleet size.

The latest approval follows opposition from San Mateo County and LA’s lawmakers who opposed Waymo’s service expansion.

The company could now operate in the Bay Area with an increase from San Francisco to 22 other cities in the Peninsula. It is also allowed to expand its driverless ride-hailing services in Los Angeles.

Waymo currently operating 250 robotaxis in San Francisco and it has not revealed the number it would increase in these new areas.

Freeways:

A doubt remains about Waymo whether it would deploy services on freeways.

Its ride-hailing has been active in Phoenix since 2020 for local roads and has been testing services for freeways with a human driver. As an improvement, the company announced last month that it is testing cars in freeways. No official information announced about this at the moment.

This wouldn’t be possible without the ongoing support of our riders, community partners, and policymakers. We can’t wait to bring the benefits of the Waymo Driver to more riders in more places!

— Waymo (@Waymo) March 1, 2024