Waymo wins California approval to expand robotaxis across 18 counties
The CPUC cleared Waymo's Advice Letter No. 4 after nearly seven months of review, authorizing paid fully driverless rides in 12 Northern California counties and six southern ones — most of the state's population, plus new Sacramento and San Diego markets. The permitted envelope is unusually wide: all speed limits, freeways, rural roads, parking lots and rail crossings, day and night, in rain, fog and hail, with only widespread snow or ice carved out. Waymo's roughly 3,000 vehicles have logged more than 20 million trips against a target of a million rides a week by year-end, while Tesla operates in the same Bay Area under a charter-party carrier permit — the kind a limousine company holds — with a human in the driver's seat.
Source: electrek.co ↗
Waymo is targeting 1 million rides a week by the end of this year.
Why this matters
- → Waymo cleared to charge for fully driverless rides across 18 California counties — largest regulatory approval
- → Operating conditions cover all speeds, freeways, rural roads, night/rain/fog — only snow/ice excluded.
- → 20M trips logged; targets 1M rides/week by year-end while Tesla still requires safety drivers.