Waymo Expansion Plan Approved By California Regulator

Back in February 2024, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) suspended Alphabet’s application to expand its Waymo autonomous driving operations in California until at least June 19^th, 2024. Now, in a quick reversal, the self-driving subsidiary’s expansion efforts have been approved by California regulators.

According to a report from Reuters, the CPUC has approved Waymo’s application to expand its fared robotaxi services to parts of the Los Angeles and San Francisco areas. Effective as of Friday, March 8^th, 2024, the autonomous driving company claims that it will work closely with policymakers, first responders and community organizations to ensure smooth and safe AV operations.

It’s worth noting that Waymo originally submitted this expansion request in January 2024.

“Waymo may begin fared driverless passenger service operations in the specified areas of Los Angeles and the San Francisco Peninsula, effective today,” an online statement from the California Public Utilities Commission read.

Notably, protests were submitted by the City of South San Francisco, County of San Mateo, and the Los Angeles Department of Transportation, among other entities. More specifically, the City of South San Francisco is arguing that the general public has the right to provide testimony and submit evidence on the potential implications of Waymo’s approved expansion.

Waymo AV On Fire

In other Waymo-related developments, the Cruise rival recently issued a recall for its self-driving technology after two of its robotaxi units managed to strike the same truck. Interestingly, it was found that due to an orientation mismatch – as the truck was facing backwards because it was being pulled by a tow truck – the autonomous driving technology had difficulty predicting the future motion of the vehicle. Due to this, a software update was pushed to all its AVs between December 20^th, 2023 and January 12^th, 2024 to ensure that this mishap wouldn’t be made again.

In addition, one of Waymo’s robotaxi units was set on fire during a celebration of China’s Lunar New Year. For now, the motive behind this attack is currently unknown.

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