Waymo, the Alphabet-owned self-driving car company, plans to add another 10 square miles to its robo-taxi service area to include cities surrounding San Francisco.
The move, which adds Daly City, Broadmoor and Colma, brings its total commercial service area to about 55 square miles. He said on Tuesday It also adds 16 square miles of new robotaxi service area in Los Angeles, including Marina del Rey, Mar Vista, Playa Vista, more of Hollywood, Chinatown and Westwood.
Waymo has been looking to add more territory and reach more customers in an effort to expand its business and eventually become profitable — though that goal remains elusive. The ever-expanding service areas have helped Waymo reach several other milestones. The company said it has delivered more than 2 million paid trips to riders in all Waymo One markets, which include Los Angeles, San Francisco and Phoenix. The company said its commercial fleet serves more than 50,000 paid rides each week across the same markets.
While these operations generate revenue, Waymo’s operations still have the backing of its backers. Parent company Alphabet has been the primary source of capital, recently announcing it would invest another $5 billion in Waymo.
This latest expansion comes several months after Waymo received approval from the California Public Utilities Commission to operate a commercial robotaxi service in Los Angeles, the San Francisco Peninsula and on San Francisco’s freeways. Waymo has been testing its self-driving vehicles on the greater San Francisco Peninsula.
Waymo has been operating a 24/7 commercial service throughout San Francisco since receiving commission approval in August 2023. The California Public Utilities Commission approved Waymo’s application to expand commercial operations into a new area in March 2024. Waymo does not provide detailed information about its global fleet. However, a spokesperson told TechCrunch that there are currently about 300 vehicles in San Francisco, 50 in Los Angeles, and 200 in Phoenix. The company also has a limited fleet being tested in Austin. Other Waymo vehicles are still being used for testing in Mountain View, California, and periodically in other areas.
Waymo said demand has been high in Los Angeles, where more than 150,000 people have signed up for the waitlist. Waymo removed the waitlist for San Francisco riders in June.