Waymo continues to broaden its attain, with the robotaxi firm posting Friday that it’s now “formally licensed to drive absolutely autonomously throughout extra of the Golden State.”
Waymo already operates in San Francisco, Silicon Valley, and Los Angeles (and out of doors California as properly, in Atlanta, Austin, and Phoenix). However maps revealed by California’s Division of Motor Automobiles confirmed that the corporate can now take a look at and deploy its autonomous autos throughout a a lot bigger space in each the Bay Space and Southern California.
Within the Bay Space, Waymo’s accepted areas of operation now embody many of the East Bay and North Bay (together with Napa/Wine Nation), in addition to Sacramento. In Southern California, the corporate’s accepted territory now stretches from Santa Clarita (north of Los Angeles) to San Diego.
The corporate will want further regulatory approval earlier than it may carry paying passengers in a few of these areas, in keeping with the San Francisco Chronicle.
Though Waymo’s submit doesn’t provide many particulars about when it plans to really begin providing rides in all these new areas, the corporate wrote, “Subsequent cease: welcoming riders in San Diego in mid-2026!”
The corporate had beforehand introduced its intention to launch in San Diego subsequent yr, together with Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Las Vegas, Miami, Nashville, Orlando, San Antonio, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.
There’s been loads of Waymo enlargement information previously couple weeks, as the corporate introduced that it is going to be coming into Minneapolis, New Orleans, and Tampa; is eradicating security drivers forward of its industrial launch in Miami; and can begin providing rides that use freeways in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Phoenix.
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We mentioned the expansion of Waymo and different robotaxi firms on the newest episode of the Fairness podcast. My co-host Sean O’Kane famous that as Waymo begins to offer extra unfettered entry throughout the Bay Space, individuals could possibly be spending much more time of their robotaxis — so we’d see them utilizing the service in new, bizarre, and even harmful methods.
