Waymo’s self-driving cars headed to San Jose and SFO

Waymo’s fleet of driverless cars just got the green light to head into San Jose. The NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit broke the news Monday. Waymo’s current expansion plans also include San Francisco’s airport, where Waymo is now approved to begin the process of “mapping” the area in hopes of ultimately dispatching its fleet of self-driving cars to pick up and drop off passengers at SFO.

The newly awarded permit will allow Waymo to utilize up to two of its vehicles at a time, with an actual human riding in the driver’s seat, to travel around the airport and train its fleet of driverless cars where and where not to go when shuttling passengers to and from SFO.

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“By working to expand transportation options to and from SFO, we're continuing to make it easier for tourists and business travelers to experience our city, strengthen our economy, and welcome the world back to San Francisco,” San Franciso Mayor Daniel Lurie said in a statement. “This agreement is another example of how San Francisco is driving innovation while supporting our economic recovery.”

Waymo's self-driving cars expand to San Jose and SFO

Waymo, the driverless car company, is expanding across the Bay Area but not without limitations. Gia Vang reports.

The mapping process, which is expected to take a couple of weeks, is just the first step. Waymo will then need to get permission from the airport, again, to start test driving the vehicles at SFO – first with safety drivers in the front seat and then, ultimately, with no drivers at all.

Hailing a driverless ride to and from the airport could still be a long road ahead. While Waymo is permitted to operate its vehicles on surrounding highways, the company has yet to include freeways on its allowable routes. Waymo is still conducting testing and, as a result, has limited highway driving to only certain passengers: including employees and their friends and family.

Waymo first began driverless testing in 2017 in Phoenix and has since deployed self-driving fleets in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Austin, Mountain View, Los Altos, Palo Alto, and parts of Sunnyvale.

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Also on Monday, Waymo received approval from the California DMV to begin certain driverless operations in San Jose, including test drives with and without passengers.

“Waymo embodies our region’s spirit of innovation – so it’s about time they joined us here in the Capitol of Silicon Valley,” San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan said in a statement. “They’ll fit right in alongside our AI civic pilot programs and AI startup incentives as we redefine how cities deliver services, including giving people more options for getting where they need to go.”

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While Waymo has secured the necessary permits from the DMV to operate on roadways in San Jose, it must also obtain separate approval from regulators at the California Public Utilities Commission before it can begin charging passengers and officially offer its ride-hailing services to the public.

“We’re grateful for the CA DMV’s review,” a Waymo spokesperson said in a statement. “This decision enables us to expand the scope of our driverless operations, and brings us a step closer to bringing the benefits of Waymo One to more people in the Bay Area.”