Waymo is significantly expanding its driverless taxi service in California, adding an additional 80 square miles to cover new areas in Los Angeles, Silicon Valley, and the San Francisco Bay Area, the company announced this week.
With this latest expansion, Waymo’s commercial autonomous vehicle service now operates across more than 250 square miles statewide, bringing its fleet of driverless Jaguar I-Pace vehicles into previously unserved neighborhoods and cities.
The move comes shortly after recent setbacks involving the company’s vehicles during Los Angeles protests. Just over a week earlier, several Waymo cars were vandalized and burned in demonstrations against the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement operations. Images of the damaged vehicles quickly became representative of the tensions at the events.
In response to safety concerns and potential service disruptions, Waymo temporarily scaled back its operations in Los Angeles, notably in downtown areas. A company spokesperson said that Waymo continues to closely monitor local conditions and has restricted services temporarily to ensure rider safety. He emphasized these limitations are designed to be short-term as the situation continues to develop.
However, these incidents have not altered Waymo’s long-term focus on broadening its presence. As of Tuesday, Waymo’s robotaxi service became available in several new areas of the Bay Area, including Brisbane, South San Francisco, San Bruno, Millbrae, and Burlingame, as well as the Silicon Valley communities of Palo Alto and Menlo Park.
Starting Wednesday, customers in additional areas of Los Angeles—including Playa del Rey, Ladera Heights, Echo Park, and Silver Lake—will also be served. The company also announced its expansion along Sunset Boulevard, connecting travelers from Mid-City to Inglewood and Westchester via major thoroughfares such as La Cienega and La Brea. After this expansion, Waymo’s service territory in Los Angeles County alone totals more than 120 square miles.
Overall growth for the Alphabet-owned company remains robust. Paid weekly rides across Waymo’s key service cities—San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Austin—have increased fivefold over the past year, reaching a milestone of over 250,000 rides per week. Waymo currently operates fleets of over 400 autonomous vehicles in Los Angeles and more than 600 in the San Francisco Bay Area.
