Crucial aspects in San Francisco Peninsula and Los Angeles
The California Public Utilities Commission approved Alphabet’s Waymo division’s plan to extend service to other areas of Los Angeles and the Bay Area.
Safety incidents and protestors have impeded the progress of Robotaxi recently.
In a notice published on the regulator’s website on Friday, the Waymo robotaxi unit was granted permission by the California Public Utilities Commission to extend service to certain areas of Los Angeles and the Bay Area.
The press statement stated that starting today, Waymo might start offering fare-paid driverless passenger services in the designated regions of Los Angeles and the San Francisco Peninsula.
Midway through February, Waymo notified the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of a voluntary recall, claiming to have resolved software problems. The Waymo autonomous cars collided with the same tow pickup truck just minutes apart in two previously unreported events that happened in Phoenix on December 11. These events led to the recall.
The crashes heightened worries already held regarding California’s use of autonomous vehicles. While safety advocates wrote letters to lawmakers and regulators pleading with them to block Waymo’s expansion in the state, rival taxi and transit service providers, as well as labor The loss of jobs for drivers worries activists.
Waymo’s expansion efforts were halted by the CPUC in February for a maximum of 120 days in order to allow for more review time.
The regulator stated in a letter dated Friday that it was approving the new proposal in part because of “Waymo’s updated Passenger Safety Plan (PSP), submitted in connection with its
the California Department of Motor Vehicles had also authorized the “expanded operational design domain (ODD) for deployment.”
“We are appreciative of the CPUC’s endorsement of our business practices, which opens the door for the launch of our Waymo One service in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Peninsula,” a Waymo spokesperson said in a statement.
The advancement of Waymo in California comes after Apple and Cruise, both owned by General Motors, withdrew from the autonomous vehicle market in California, while Elon Musk’s Tesla
hasn’t created an autonomous car that can drive itself safely without a human driver present.
After several incidents, including one in which a robotaxi ran over a pedestrian who had been struck by a human-driven car and then propelled forward by a Cruise vehicle, California regulators decided to suspend operations of the self-driving Cruise robotaxis in October.
Tesla’s Palo Alto engineering headquarters is located in San Mateo County, and Waymo’s robotaxis can now operate in the vicinity thanks to new approvals.
Regarding the for-profit ride-sharing service Waymo One, the most recent notification is applicable. In those regions, the business has been using test vehicles for a number of years.