State regulators on Friday gave the green light for Waymo to expand into Los Angeles and San Mateo counties, clearing the way for the driverless taxi service to launch in the coming months.
Exactly when Waymo services will be available in Los Angeles is still to be determined, but the decision by the California Public Utilities Commission will open the streets of America’s second-largest city to a fleet of autonomous vehicles — even as self-driving cars continue to be the subject of safety concerns and some public criticism.
Waymo, formerly known as the Google self-driving car project, is owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet, and already operates in parts of San Francisco.
The company is allowed to operate fully autonomous vehicles and carry public passengers as part of its testing and promotion, and has been testing its driverless white Jaguars in Los Angeles for more than a year. An invitation-only period rolled out in Los Angeles County last year, giving some a chance to experience the service firsthand.
“As always, we’ll take a careful and incremental approach to expansion by continuing to work closely with city officials, local communities and our partners to ensure we’re offering a service that’s safe, accessible and valuable to our riders,” Waymo spokesperson Julia Ilina said in a statement.
But Waymo’s expansion has been met with some skepticism — and the vehicles have at times been targets of vandalism. Last month, a crowd burned an empty Waymo car in San Francisco’s Chinatown, though the motive for that attack was unclear.
Los Angeles officials have expressed concern over the deployment of the driverless vehicles, and some have backed legislation introduced by state Sen. Dave Cortese (D-San José) that would give local officials more power to regulate them.
Currently, local jurisdictions have no say in the commercial deployment of autonomous vehicles. The CPUC cleared the expansion of Waymo’s operations despite letters of opposition from officials in South San Francisco, San Mateo and Los Angeles counties, and multiple transportation agencies.
In a protest letter to the commission, the L.A. Department of Transportation argued that there needs to be standardization of disengagement protocols and more oversight over the automated vehicles before they are deployed.
“Any expansion by Waymo will set a precedent for these companies and those looking to enter the marketplace to deploy without any rules or safeguards in place that were promulgated without meaningful coordination with local jurisdictions,” the letter said.
L.A. Mayor Karen Bass asked regulators in November to increase their scrutiny of autonomous vehicles and said the city should have a say in how they are regulated.
At the time, she pointed to one of the Waymo driverless cars operating in Los Angeles that had failed to initially stop for a traffic officer at Beaudry Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard on Aug. 3, 2023. The officer had been signaling east- and westbound traffic to come to a stop.
Groups submitting letters of support for the Waymo expansion included United Way Bay Area, the California Chamber of Commerce, the Epilepsy Foundation of Northern California and Southern California Resource Services for Independent Living, among others.
Before the commission’s approval, San Mateo County Attorney John D. Nibbelin protested, saying the county didn’t have enough information on the expansion plans or enough engagement with Waymo.
“The ‘quick and simplified’ advice letter review process … is insufficient to develop the evidence necessary to fully understand the potential impacts and issues Waymo’s expansion into San Mateo County will create, including accounting for the differing needs and hurdles Waymo will face operating in San Mateo County,” Nibbelin’s letter to the commission stated.