Since August of last year, Waymo and Cruise have been allowed to drive autonomously at Level 4 in San Francisco. Waymo, which is part of the Alphabet Group, like Google, has expanded its driving area to the south of the San Francisco Peninsula and thus to more than 140 square kilometers. Waymo has also recently started covering a larger area in Los Angeles.
So far, Waymo’s Level 4 autonomous taxis, which drive autonomously and without staff, have been available throughout San Francisco. Since June of this year, interested parties no longer need to be on a waiting list, but can book a regular robo-taxi through the Waymo One app for Android and iOS.
Waymo is heading to Daly City
Waymo has now expanded its offerings south of the San Francisco Peninsula to include Daly City, the second-largest city in San Mateo County with a population of just over 100,000, which is part of the South San Francisco Autonomous Region. Broadmoor and Colma are also covered by the expansion, meaning Waymo taxis can now serve more than 55 square miles, or 140 square kilometers. Waymo also reportedly wants to be allowed to fly to San Francisco International Airport in the future, but the company has yet to receive relevant approval.
Expanding into multiple areas of Los Angeles
Waymo has also expanded its coverage area in Los Angeles and now covers Marina del Rey, Mar Vista, Playa Vista, larger parts of Hollywood, Chinatown, and Westwood, bringing the coverage area in Los Angeles County to more than 200 square kilometers.
Waymo has been available in Los Angeles since March of this year, but you still have to get on a waiting list. The company says it has received 150,000 interested parties for Waymo One so far and plans to gradually expand the offering in line with growing demand.
The largest autonomous driving area is 815 square kilometers.
According to Waymo, autonomous vehicles handle 50,000 paid trips per week in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Phoenix. In May 2023, Waymo created the world’s largest autonomous driving zone in the Arizona capital and in June of this year expanded it by an additional 80 square miles to a total of more than 320 square miles with an expansion to the north. In Phoenix, you can already take a robotaxi to the airport.
In total, more than 2 million paid trips have been completed and more than 32 million autonomous kilometers have been driven since Waymo became available to the public. ComputerBase was able to test the Waymo One twice in January 2023.
