Reaching its Third US City, Waymo Expands its Service
Waymo says it will begin testing autonomous vehicles in Los Angeles with the goal of launching a robotaxi service in the city in the months ahead. This marks the third market Alphabet Inc.’s self-driving technology unit has targeted.
Waymo currently operates robotaxis in two cities: Phoenix and San Francisco. The company is one of a handful trying to launch a widescale commercial service built around autonomous vehicles, like Amazon’s Zoox, Argo AI (which is backed by Ford and Volkswagen), Motional (which is backed by Hyundai and Aptive), and Cruise (which is backed by General Motors and Honda).
“We are going into Los Angeles with the aim of running a 24/7, fully autonomous commercial ride-hailing service. That’s a commitment we have only made to two cities in the past: Phoenix and San Francisco,” said chief product officer Saswat Panigrahi.
Waymo, which began as Google’s self-driving car project in 2009 and has raised about $3 billion in recent years to expand operations. The Waymo One commercial service in the Phoenix area has operated since 2020 but doesn’t yet do so in San Francisco. It also has a delivery service in Phoenix and is expanding autonomous truck operations in Texas through its Waymo Via unit. Cruise has launched a limited public service in San Francisco that’s mainly available at times when traffic is light.
“There’s no denying the fact that this is one of the largest technological challenges of our generation. There are very few things that compare to driving a robot at 45 mph in the midst of complex, unpredictable traffic,” Saswat said.
The Los Angeles metro region, with about 13 million residents, is an appealing commercial opportunity as it’s the third-largest ride-hailing market in the U.S., representing potentially worth $2 billion in 2022.
Waymo isn’t the only AV company with its vehicles prowling the streets of LA. Motional, a joint venture between Hyundai and Aptiv, is also testing its vehicles in the city, primarily in Santa Monica, for future robotaxi and delivery services.
The Vexnova Take
Already having approval from the state of California, adding LA was the next logical step for Waymo. Current operation in these select metros have been held to designated areas. Expanding beyond these areas will be a an indication of the technology and service readiness to enter multiple metros throughout the US. We expect other markets in California and Arizona will be announced before Waymo and other robotaxi providers expand their reach in the pilot markets.