(Credit: Waymo)
Waymo's driverless service will soon reach more parts of California after the state's Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) signed off on a large expansion.
Waymo is already operational in San Francisco, Silicon Valley, and Los Angeles, and the new approval allows it to test and deploy autonomous vehicles in most parts of the East Bay, North Bay, and the state capital, Sacramento.
"We're officially authorized to drive fully autonomously across more of the Golden State," Waymo tweeted along with a picture of the updated service areas.
The California DMV's maps show a big difference between the current and newly approved service areas. While the permitted area has expanded, commercial availability of rides in the new areas may still take some time, as Waymo needs to secure an additional permit for that, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Waymo, too, hasn't clarified when customers will be able to book rides in the new regions, but said that its next goal is "welcoming riders in San Diego in mid-2026."
In the Golden State, the Google-owned company is allowed to deploy the 2021- and 2024-model Jaguar I-Pace cars as well as the 2022- and 2025-model Zeekr RTs. Operational hours cover "all times of day and night," according to the California DMV's update. It recently got approval to offer rides on highways in San Francisco, Phoenix, and Los Angeles.
Waymo's services will be launching in Dallas, Houston, Orlando, Miami, and San Antonio next year. Tests are also underway in New York City, Washington, DC, Denver, Seattle, Tokyo, and London.
Rival Tesla has also been expanding its robotaxi service. While it's already operational in geo-fenced parts of Austin and the San Francisco Bay Area, it got the green light to start commercial services in Arizona and non-commercial tests in Nevada last week.