Waymo robotaxis are pushing into even more California cities

Waymo is expanding its robotaxi service area by another 80 square miles in Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Silicon Valley, the company announced Tuesday.

Waymo’s commercial service area now covers more than 250 square miles across California, pushing the driverless Jaguar I-Pace vehicles into new pockets of three populous metro areas. The expansion comes a little over a week since several Waymo robotaxis were burned and vandalized during protests in Los Angeles over the Trump administration’s immigration raids.

The scorched Waymo robotaxis — images that became emblematic of those protests — prompted the company to pull back service in Los Angeles. On Friday, the company took additional steps and limited service nationwide in preparation of widespread protests over immigration policies.

Waymo spokesperson Chris Bonelli said the company continually evaluates and adjusts its operations based on traffic conditions, special events, and local guidance. He confirmed that the company is still temporarily limiting the Waymo service in parts of Los Angeles, including downtown, and said it will monitor the evolving situation and ramp up service soon. 

These incidents don’t appear to be slowing the Alphabet-owned company’s push into new markets, however. (New LA areas in light blue)

Waymo said that starting Tuesday its service will now be available to riders in the San Francisco Bay Area communities of Brisbane, South SF, San Bruno, Millbrae, and Burlingame, as well as the Silicon Valley towns of Palo Alto and Menlo Park.

Waymo said it will expand its LA service area, starting Wednesday, into the neighborhoods of Playa del Rey, Ladera Heights, Echo Park, Silver Lake, and the entirety of Sunset Boulevard. Riders will now be able to travel from Mid-City to Inglewood and Westchester via La Cienega and La Brea, according to Waymo, which says it now serves more than 120 square miles of LA County.

The company’s growth — in terms of weekly paid trips across San Francisco, LA, Phoenix, and Austin — has increased five-fold since June 2024. Today, Waymo is serving over a quarter of a million paid trips per week across those four markets. Waymo’s commercial fleet includes more than 400 vehicles in LA and more than 600 in the San Francisco Bay Area.