Waymo, the self-driving car company ,has expanded its driverless ride-hailing service to include 27 square miles of California’s famed Silicon Valley. Bigad Shaban has more.
When you’re a robot, all roads eventually lead back to Silicon Valley. Waymo, which share’s Google’s same parent company, Alphabet, has expanded its driverless ride service to now include more of the Bay Area, including Palo Alto, Los Altos, Sunnyvale, and Mountainview – the very city where Waymo first started testing its driverless car technology 16 years ago.
Waymo says it is initially limiting the service to just those who live in Silicon Valley, so tourists and out-of-towners will have to wait a bit longer before gaining access in that part of northern California. In preparation for the expansion, Waymo offered free driverless rides to its employees in the area for about four months.
Waymo's driverless fleet boasts completed 5 million+ driverless rides
Waymo's fleet of autonomous vehicles have shuttled passengers more than 5 million times since Oct. 2020. Currently, the company operates more than 700 driverless vehicles nationwide, including more than 300 in San Francisco, where Waymo has been selling driverless rides since August 2023. The company also runs driverless fleets in Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Austin.
When can you hail a Waymo driverless car to SFO airport?
Despite Waymo’s expansion further south along the Bay Area’s peninsula, the company is still unable to offer service to and from the San Francisco International Airport. Before dispatching driverless vehicles to SFO, Waymo would first need to digitally map the area in order to train its vehicles on where and where not to travel when picking up and dropping off passengers. That mapping process requires a permit from SFO, which the airport has not yet provided to Waymo.
“We are in active discussions with SFO but we don't have more details to share at this time,” a Waymo spokesperson told NBC Bay Area.
Meanwhile, airport officials say they are still evaluating the prospect.
“The safety of our customers remains the very highest priority,” said Doug Yakel, an airport spokesperson.
“We are in discussions with Waymo about a process to permit the manned digital mapping of our roadways (without passengers). Given that these discussions are ongoing, it is premature to provide any sort of timing for subsequent steps.”
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Watch our entire investigative series
- Part 1: Driverless cars seek San Francisco expansion despite worries tech is unsafe
- Part 2: CPUC votes to expand driverless car operations in San Francisco
- Part 3: San Francisco city attorney files motion to pump the brakes on driverless cars
- Part 4: Google's Waymo says insurance data shows its driverless cars are safer than humans
- Part 5: Hit-and-run driver strikes pedestrian, tossing her into path of Cruise car in San Francisco
- Part 6: Driverless trucks and robot deliveries promise fewer traffic jams than robotaxis
- Part 7: Cruise says its robotaxis can now better detect emergency vehicles
- Part 8: California DMV orders Cruise's driverless cars off the road
- Part 9: Driverless cars immune from traffic tickets in California under current laws
- Part 10: GM's Cruise lays off nearly 25% of its workforce
- Part 11: Waymo's driverless cars surpass 7 million miles, but are they safer than human drivers?
- Part 12: Cruise probe blames poor internet, bad leadership, and "flawed" decisions for company's woes
- Part 13: Driverless Cruise car accused of almost hitting 7 yr old after similar close call involving kids
- Part 14: Cruise offers to pay $112,500 in fines to settle claims driverless car company misled regulators
- Part 15: Uber Eats now uses Waymo Self-Driving cars to offer driverless deliveries
- Part 16: Bills aimed at closing traffic ticket loophole for driverless cars get initial green light
- Part 17: School crossing guards say they've had to dodge driverless cars to avoid being hit
- Part 18: Cruise ordered to pay $112,500 in penalties for withholding info from regulators
- Part 19: Waymo waitlist over in SF, all can hail driverless cars
- Part 20: SF Mayor vows to hold driverless car companies accountable after NBC Bay Area report
- Part 21: San Francisco govt. officials meet with Waymo to discuss safety concerns near schools
- Part 22: California DMV gears up to allow driverless trucking despite calls to restrict high-tech big rigs
- Part 23: Cruise to abandon robotaxi business after tumultuous year
- Part 24: Waymo's robotaxis surpass 25 million miles, but are they safer than humans?
- Part 25: Waymo robotaxi rear-ended in fatal multi-car collision in San Francisco
- Part 26: Multi-car wreck slams into Waymo, marks first time a driverless car is involved in deadly collision
- Part 27: Waymo's driverless cars reach Silicon Valley, but when can you hail a ride to SFO airport?
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