The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has approved Waymo to expand its robotaxi operations to Los Angeles and more locations on the San Francisco Peninsula. opposition from local groups and government agencies. “Waymo may begin driverless passenger service operations in certain areas of Los Angeles and the San Francisco Peninsula effective today,” the regulator wrote in a statement. decision (PDF). whom CNBC points out that Waymo has been test these locations have had driverless vehicles for some time, but this decision will allow passengers to pay for robotaxi rides.
In the CPUC decision, it acknowledged receiving letters of objection to Waymo’s expansion from the city of South San Francisco, San Mateo County, the Los Angeles Department of Transportation, the San Francisco County Transportation Authority and the San Francisco Taxi Workers Alliance. . And he received those letters before the agency halted Waymo’s expansion efforts for up to 120 days after the Alphabet-owned company was found to be recalling its cars in February. Waymo informed then two of its robot taxis collided with a tow truck in December 2023 with a rear-facing truck because its software incorrectly predicted the truck’s movements. The company had to develop and deploy a fix to its fleet.
Formerly LA Mayor Karen Bass He sent a letter to MMC (PDF) expresses concern over the regulator’s decision to allow autonomous vehicles to operate in its city. “To date, local jurisdictions like Los Angeles have had little or no access to AV deployments and are already seeing significant damage and disruption,” he said. David Canepa, vice president of the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors said in the statement on this latest development: “I’m confused and a little suspicious that it only took 11 days for the CPUC to change its mind about the suspension. I find that rude and disingenuous. We’ve had no discussions to address our concerns and says In my opinion, neither Waymo nor the CPUC cares about the public safety of our local residents.”
Waymo spokeswoman Julia Ilina, however, was confident in a public statement Wired The company will take an “incremental approach” when it comes to rolling out the service in LA. It has “no immediate plans” to expand its service in San Francisco. In addition, he said Waymo will continue to work “closer to city officials, local communities and more [its] Ilina also noted that while the CPUC received letters of objection, it also received letters of support for Waymo’s expansion from 81 organizations and individuals. These include elderly and disabled people from various groups, local community councils as well as transport advocates.
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