Waymo seeks state approval to expand robotaxi service to South Bay, Peninsula

Waymo is moving forward with plans to expand its driverless taxi service to the South Bay and Peninsula.

Many Bay Area residents are now familiar with Waymo, whose driverless taxis can now be found ferrying passengers all over San Francisco.

Waymo is seeking approval from the California Public Utilities Commission to charge passengers for robotaxi service in these expanded Bay Area regions. It filed an Advice Letter with the commission in March. The window to submit public responses just closed. Congressman Sam Liccardo, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, Sharks Sports and Entertainment, the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition, and more wrote to express their support. Now, Waymo will wait for the CPUC to take a vote on its application.

NBC Bay Area Senior Investigative Reporter Bigad Shaban, who has been covering autonomous vehicles in the Bay Area extensively for two years, was the first to report last month that the DMV approved Waymo to start some driverless operations in San Jose.

Shaban explained that in San Jose presently, "Right now [Waymo is] operating vehicles in autonomous mode, but they do have human safety drivers in the front seat."

He explained that while Waymo already has the DMV approval, it now has to wait for the next green light from the state.

"They still need that second component, which is regulators at a separate body, called the California Public Utilities Commission, and that agency is the one responsible for doling out permits to companies in order to start collecting money for those rides," Shaban explained.

Waymo's Advice Letter indicates it intends to expand service all around the South Bay and Peninsula.

That expansion could include service to San Jose Mineta Airport. An SJC spokesperson confirmed Waymo conducted mapping and testing at the San Jose airport in August and September of 2024, with safety drivers present in their vehicles.

"No commercial operations have been conducted at SJC and we have not received a formal request from Waymo for an SJC ground transportation operating permit yet," the spokesperson continued.

A Waymo spokesperson told NBC Bay Area, "We are optimistic the CPUC will enable us to bring the safety, convenience, and comfort of Waymo One to more of the Bay Area."

Waymo One is what the company calls its autonomous ride-hailing service. The company opened Waymo One to the public in Silicon Valley last month.

Representative Liccardo, who was speaking at a town hall in Los Gatos Thursday night, told NBC Bay Area he believes the Waymo robotaxis will fit in well in the region.

"We’ve seen millions of trips now, this is pretty familiar stuff, we’re in Silicon Valley after all, I think folks get it pretty easily," Liccardo said.

He acknowledged that for major events, Waymo will likely be just one piece in the effort to ease traffic.

"I think it's helpful to have more transportation options," Liccardo said.

"I don’t think [Waymo is] going to affect the reality of traffic, that’s of course going to be a challenge in those big events," he continued. "We’re still going to need transit, and it's important that we do all the above."

Some drivers have concerns about seeing these vehicles on the roads.

"For times of the day when it's very congested or in parts of the city where it's very congested, I’m not sure it's going to be the best choice," said San Jose resident Jim Zito.

"I think overall it's going to be a work in progress, it's come a long way in the last decade or so, but I’m sure they still gotta work some things out," Zito continued.