A Waymo autonomous vehicle drives on Columbus Avenue in San Francisco, Calif., Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023, one week after a state agency gave both Cruise and Ways the green light to begin accepting paid customers. Drivers navigating traffic on El Camino Real could soon have new cars to contend with, but no one to direct their road rage at: Driverless cars are coming to the Peninsula.
Waymo, which is based in Mountain View and owned by Google parent company Alphabet, began operating a fleet of robotaxis in Phoenix in 2020. Itin August 2023 for a limited group of users, though hundreds remain on a waitlist for access. The company runs tens of thousands of rides each week, Ludwick said.
Deployment of autonomous vehicles in San Francisco has not always gone smoothly. In August, nearly a dozen robotaxis from competitor Cruiseto the California Public Utilities Commission, which regulates commercial passenger vehicles, to expand its services south beyond San Francisco. The agency approved the request.
“Why would any city or county allow robotaxis to operate unfettered when they are proven to be disruptive to first responders and even deadly?” Canepathis news organization. “What is needed is local control and not the blanket approval the DMV and CPUC has taken.”