California Regulators Approve Citywide Robotaxi Service in San Francisco
California regulators vote to allow Waymo and Cruise to operate paid, driverless taxi services across all of San Francisco despite strong opposition from local city agencies and residents.
California state regulators vote to allow Waymo and Cruise to operate paid, unmanned robotaxi services throughout San Francisco at all hours of the day. The California Public Utilities Commission approves the expansion in a 3-to-1 vote, overriding vigorous pushback from city transportation officials, fire departments, and many local residents who cite incidents of erratic driving and interference with emergency responders.
This decision marks a critical step forward for the self-driving car industry, as San Francisco serves as both a symbolic tech hub and the largest real-world test lab with over 500 autonomous vehicles already on the roads. The companies argue that operating in this dense urban environment is essential to perfect their technology, and they maintain that their driverless cars are safer than distractible human drivers.
With the immediate approval, Waymo and Cruise now operate in direct competition with Uber and Lyft as app-summoned ride services across the entire city. Both companies plan to increase their fleet sizes beyond their current combined total of roughly 400 active vehicles, bringing empty driver seats and self-turning steering wheels to even more San Francisco streets.