Waymo doubles down in Phoenix area, expands San Francisco efforts

Waymo is expanding its commercial driverless service in metro Phoenix and making further inroads toward such service in San Francisco.

The self-driving technology company said Thursday it has doubled the service area in which its Waymo One ride-hailing fleet operates in metro Phoenix. Its vehicles will now carry customers across 180 square miles in the region, connecting Phoenix and its major suburbs. Previously, the company operated in two distinct areas, downtown Phoenix and the East Valley, that were not connected.

Now the company, a subsidiary of Alphabet, says its operating area will be largest contiguous area in which a driverless ride-hailing service is offered. For the first time, the operating area includes Arizona State University in Tempe, a potentially lucrative market. Waymo is also opening a second pick-up and drop-off location at Phoenix’s Sky Harbor International Airport.

In San Francisco, Waymo will give its “Trusted Testers” group of approved customers access to new locations, including Fisherman’s Wharf and the North Beach neighborhood.

The company is awaiting final approval for its driverless deployment permit from the California Public Utilities Commission so it can start charging for rider-only autonomous rides in San Francisco.

The expansions come as a prelude to what Waymo envisions as a substantial scale-up over the next year. In both cities, Waymo says it currently offers more than 10,000 trips per week to riders that do not include employees. By summer 2024, the company intends to expand those figures to 100,000 trips per week.

At some point in the future, Waymo intends to start service in Los Angeles. Waymo’s expansion comes in face of economic headwinds, as the company and other autonomous vehicle startups have laid off workers and need to convince investors they have viable long-term business models.