Waymo’s robotaxis have received approval from the California Public Utilities Commission for expansion. Self-driving taxis are already operating in parts of Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area. Now, they will be allowed to drive farther out of the city center and into neighboring counties, including the heart of Silicon Valley.
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Self-driving cars have become a contentious issue in San Francisco, with local officials reporting they interfere with public safety and labor advocates saying they will put taxi drivers out of work. In October 2023, rival Cruise was banned by California Mobile after a September 2023 report from the San Francisco Fire Department said two Cruise robotaxis intercepted an ambulance carrying a patient who later died. The DMV is temporarily suspended. After the incident, Cruise suspended all self-driving projects in 15 cities in the United States and remains closed to this day.
Waymo, a subsidiary of Alphabet, is one of the better-known robotaxi services still operating. Just this week, Apple announced it was abandoning its attempts to develop self-driving car technology. Tesla is reportedly trying to develop its own electric driverless taxi system but has yet to show a prototype to the public.
In a report in November, local CNBC reporter Deirdre Bosa compared Cruise’s driving in one of the driverless taxis to “student driver driving” and described how the 20 Several close calls and multiple honks during the minute drive. By comparison, her experience with Waymo was “underwhelming.”