Waymo Launches Driverless Robotaxi Rides for San Francisco Employees
Waymo begins offering fully autonomous rides to its employees in San Francisco as it expands its testing territory. The move intensifies the ongoing competition with Cruise in the Bay Area.
Waymo provides fully autonomous rides to its San Francisco employees without a human safety operator. This employee-only program operates across a large territory that stretches from the Presidio to Candlestick Point under a driverless testing permit from the California Department of Motor Vehicles.
The company clarifies that this is not yet a public commercial service because it lacks the required driverless deployment permit. Waymo currently holds a drivered deployment permit that allows it to charge for rides with a human operator present, but it keeps its application status for a fully driverless commercial permit confidential.
This expansion fuels the fierce rivalry between Waymo and competitor Cruise in San Francisco, as Cruise already holds a driverless deployment permit for public rides. Meanwhile, Waymo also expands its established robotaxi operations in Phoenix by moving from the East Valley into the downtown area.