Waymo now expanding Bay Area service outside of San Francisco
(KRON) — For the first time, San Francisco Waymo riders are now being driven outside of city limits. Starting Tuesday, Waymo vehicles can be seen with passengers in Daly City, Broadmoor and Colma, the company said in a news release.
Despite having faced controversy like when its vehicle killed a dog in San Francisco last summer, Waymo is moving forward with its Bay Area expansion. Waymo’s service now spans 55 square miles from Fisherman’s Wharf down to Serramonte Center in Daly City.
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The official launch of service outside of The City comes three months after Waymo began testing its autonomous vehicles in the Peninsula.
Although the expansion only stretches out as far south as Colma, Waymo announced in January its plans to operate in San Mateo County and parts of Santa Clara County, including cities like Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Burlingame and South San Francisco.
But Waymo is taking it one step at a time — not expanding service to all its planned cities at once.
“They have the permits, they are allowed to go all the way down to Sunnyvale, but they chose to take it step by step but they chose to make sure that everyone is feeling comfortable with it before they can expand to other cities,” said San Jose State Professor Ahmed Banafa who has written books on topics like artificial intelligence and cybersecurity.
Banafa credits the expansion to a $5 billion investment by Waymo’s parent company Alphabet, which also owns Google. Waymo is still not allowed on freeways or at SFO while it undergoes more testing.
In June, Waymo vehicles became available to everyone in San Francisco. Previously, Waymo riders were only those who signed up on a waitlist.
In addition to expanding in the Bay Area, Waymo will be expanding its Los Angeles service starting Wednesday, Aug. 7, the press release said. Waymo vehicles will now be traveling an additional 16 square miles including Marina del Rey, Mar Vista, Playa Vista, Hollywood, Chinatown and Westwood.
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According to Waymo, its autonomous vehicles have traveled more than 20 million miles across all its service areas.
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