Alphabet's Waymo has been approved to expand its autonomous ride-hailing service to San Jose
Waymo, a subsidiary of Alphabet, has been approved to expand its autonomous ride-hailing service to more areas in the San Francisco Bay Area, including San Jose. The approval of this expansion plan is the result of Waymo's passenger safety plan submitted to the California Public Utilities Commission. Waymo stated that while the operating model will not change in the short term, it looks forward to bringing services to more Bay Area regions in the future. Currently, Waymo provides over 250,000 paid autonomous taxi services in the United States each week
According to Zhitong Finance APP, Waymo, a subsidiary of Alphabet (GOOGL.US), has received approval to expand its autonomous ride-hailing service to more areas in the San Francisco Bay Area, including San Jose.
In March of this year, Waymo submitted an application to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) seeking approval for its latest passenger safety plan, which is a key step in obtaining a license to operate autonomous vehicles on a larger scale. On Monday, this expansion plan was approved, and Waymo's autonomous driving coverage will extend from San Francisco to the entire peninsula.
Waymo stated on X on Monday: "We are very pleased to announce that the California Public Utilities Commission has approved our application, allowing us to operate fully autonomous commercial ride-hailing services in the South Bay and nearly all of San Jose! While this will not change our operational model in the short term, we look forward to bringing the benefits of Waymo One to more areas of the Bay Area in the future."
As Waymo continues to expand, the California Department of Motor Vehicles is considering new rules for testing and deploying autonomous vehicles.
In April of this year, Alphabet reported that Waymo currently provides over 250,000 paid autonomous taxi services in the U.S. each week. That month, Waymo and Toyota announced a preliminary collaboration to explore introducing autonomous taxi technology into personal vehicles
