Waymo expands robotaxi coverage in Los Angeles and San Francisco

Waymo, the Alphabet-owned self-driving car company, is adding another 10 square miles to its robotaxi service area to include cities surrounding San Francisco. 

The move, which adds Daly City, Broadmoor and Colma, pushes its total commercial service territory to about 55 square miles. Waymo said Tuesday it is also adding 16 square miles of new robotaxi service area in Los Angeles, including Marina del Rey, Mar Vista, Playa Vista, and more of Hollywood, Chinatown and Westwood.

Waymo has been pushing to add more territory and reach more customers in a bid to scale its commercial operations and eventually become profitable — although that goal is still out of reach. The ever-expanding service territories have helped Waymo reach several other milestones. The company said it has provided more than two million paid trips to riders across all Waymo One markets, which includes Los Angeles, San Francisco and Phoenix. The company said its fleet of commercial vehicles serve more than 50,000 paid trips each week across those same markets. 

While these operations generate revenue, Waymo’s operations are still supported by its backers. Its parent company, Alphabet, has been the primary source of capital, recently announcing it will invest another $5 billion into Waymo.

This latest expansion comes several months after receiving approval from the California Public Utilities Commission to operate a commercial robotaxi service in Los Angeles, the San Francisco Peninsula and on San Francisco freeways. Waymo has been testing its self-driving vehicles in the greater SF Peninsula.

Waymo has operated a commercial service 24 hours a day, seven days a week throughout the city of San Francisco since receiving approval from the commission in August 2023. The CPUC approved in March 2024 Waymo’s request to expand commercial operations into new territory. Waymo doesn’t provide detailed information on its global fleet. However, a spokesperson did tell TechCrunch that today there are about 300 vehicles in San Francisco, 50 in Los Angeles and 200 in Phoenix. The company also has a limited fleet that is testing in Austin. Other Waymo vehicles are still used for testing in Mountain View, California and periodically in other areas. 

Waymo said demand has increased in Los Angeles and more than 150,000 people have signed up for the waitlist. Waymo removed the waitlist for San Francisco riders in June.