Waymo announced on Tuesday its latest expansion of the Waymo One driverless ride-hailing service to new areas in California, extending its reach in both San Francisco and Los Angeles.
The company’s new service areas include the San Francisco Peninsula, covering Daly City, Broadmoor, and Colma, now available 24 hours a day. In Los Angeles, Waymo is expanding to Marina del Rey, Mar Vista, Playa Vista, and Hollywood’s Chinatown and Westwood.
Hey, CA: we’re serving more of SF and LA! Today, SF riders can now travel to Daly City. And tomorrow, LA riders can get to more of Playa Vista, Westwood, Chinatown, and Hollywood. New exciting places, same great service! https://t.co/0m05eCPXzW pic.twitter.com/69oV9wqX0f
— Waymo (@Waymo) August 6, 2024
“Our team is laser-focused on refining Waymo One to be as seamless and useful as possible for our riders,” said Saswat Panigrahi, Chief Product Officer at Waymo. “This means offering exceptional ride quality, short wait times, and more exciting destinations. We’re committed to California, where many of our team members call home, so it’s really special to be able to bring the benefits of full autonomy to even more people in San Francisco and Los Angeles.”
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In Los Angeles, Waymo still operates a waitlist for Waymo One, with over 150,000 sign-ups. The company highlighted that average trip ratings in the area have been 4.7 out of 5, and the serviceable area in LA County now covers 79 square miles.
Patricia Rillera, Executive Director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) for California, emphasized the potential safety benefits of Waymo’s services. “Mothers Against Drunk Driving believes the safest choice when plans include alcohol is to designate a non-drinking driver before the first drink is consumed,” said Rillera. “Today’s designated driver comes in many forms, and Waymo’s expansion across the San Francisco Bay Area and LA County offers an exciting new option for Californians to choose a safe ride home.”
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Waymo’s expansion follows several significant approvals and expansions this year. The company applied to expand in LA in January and received approval in March. In May, it extended its services to additional areas in the San Francisco Bay Area, following an initial approval to operate 24 hours a day in San Francisco last August. In June, Waymo dropped its waitlist for the Bay Area, allowing anyone with the Waymo One app to hail a ride.
