The Mountain View-based autonomous vehicle company Waymo is making big strides towards expanding its service across the state of California.
The company is now one step closer to operating its driverless taxis across most of the Bay Area and a big stretch of Southern California.
In California, Waymo already operates autonomous vehicles for customers around Los Angeles, in San Francisco, through the Peninsula, and all the way to San Jose.
The California Department of Motor Vehicles updated its website showing that the department has approved additional areas across the state of operation for Waymo’s driverless testing and deployment, including a large swath of Southern California and much of the Bay Area, plus Sacramento.
In Northern California, the expanded area stretches north past Santa Rosa and all the way east to Sacramento, including cities in Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, Sonoma, Santa Cruz, Solano, Yolo, and Sacramento County.
In Southern California, the expanded area extends north to Santa Clarita and Thousand Oaks, all the way past San Diego to the southernmost part of the west side of the state.
The areas included in these maps are what the state calls operational design domains (or ODDs). The ODDs approved for Waymo apply to both its Jaguar I-Pace and Zeekr RT vehicle models.
But don’t expect to see Waymos on the road across the Bay Area just yet. The company needs approval from the California Public Utilities Commission to start charging riders and collecting fares for these expanded areas of operation.
A Waymo spokesperson told NBC Bay Area in a statement on Saturday: “We appreciate the DMV’s approval of our expanded fully autonomous operations.”
The company noted that the next place in California where it plans to launch its autonomous vehicle service for customers is San Diego, where it expects to welcome its first riders in mid-2026.
NBC Bay Area has reached out to the California DMV and California CPUC for comment and is awaiting a response.
Local leaders from the Wine Country to Oakland are keeping an eye on these changes. Multiple elected officials said they’d been contacted by Waymo to talk about autonomous vehicles possibly expanding to their city.
Oakland District 7 City Council Member Ken Houston said his office had been contacted by Waymo, but he hasn’t spoken with the company yet.
Houston said he thinks Waymo coming to Oakland “would be a great asset.”
But he thinks 2026 will be a bit too early to start Waymo service there because the city will be doing major road improvements and encampment abatement then.
Houston said that 2027 onward could be a better time to bring in the autonomous vehicles.
Like many leaders we spoke with, Houston said he still has questions for Waymo, too.
“How’s it going to bring jobs? How is it going to bring vitality to our city? What is it going to do? How are they going to be a partner to the city?” Houston said.
Oakland’s District 5 City Council Member Noel Gallo thinks Waymos are on the horizon for Oakland.
“It’s another opportunity for Oakland to join the future,” Gallo said, pointing out the growing list of cities across the country where Waymo is now operating.
Gallo said he’s spoken with Waymo representatives and has taken a ride on a Waymo.
“There are some processes and policies we have to go through, but I am in complete support of Waymo coming to Oakland,” Gallo said.
Oakland’s District 3 Council Member Carroll Fife said Waymo representatives have reached out to her as well.
Fife said, “I am in the process of doing my due diligence with my constituents and various stakeholders on Waymo’s potential presence in Oakland.”
Further north in Santa Rosa, Councilmember Jeff Okrepkie said that Waymo also reached out to him and other elected leaders to discuss their plans for the area.
“My understanding is that there’s infrastructure needed to expand it,” Okrepkie said.
“I personally welcome it,” he continued, “I think it would be great.”
Okrepkie said he’s had good experiences so far traveling in Waymo driverless taxis in Arizona.
Source: NBC Bay Area
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