Waymo announced that it has doubled its robotaxi service area in Phoenix and is growing its service area in San Francisco.
In the Phoenix metro, Waymo has connected its downtown and East Valley territories. This expansion covers Scottsdale, a first for the company, and will also cover nearly all of Tempe and give additional access to Chandler and Mesa. Waymo now serves 180 square miles of the Valley.
“When it comes to transportation options, convenience, safety and efficiency are key for Scottsdale’s 9.7 million annual visitors,” Stephanie Pressler, director of community and government affairs at Experience Scottsdale, said. “Experience Scottsdale is excited that our visitors and residents alike will soon have a new option in Waymo as they move throughout Old Town Scottsdale’s shopping, entertainment, historic and arts districts, as well as travel to and from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.”
This latest expansion in Phoenix means that Waymo’s service area is nearly four times the size of the company’s initial Waymo One service area when it opened to the public in Phoenix in 2020. Waymo has also opened a second location to access its service to the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport at the new 24th Street PHX SkyTrain Station.
In addition to its expansion in Phoenix, the company is working to give its riders access to more of San Francisco. Waymo recently gave its Trusted Testers access to Fisherman’s Wharf and North Beach, and the company is continuing to onboard new Waymo One riders in the city.
“These latest expansions in Metro Phoenix and San Francisco will help us provide more trips to more riders in more places, and are a big step forward on the road to growing our business,” Saswat Panigrahi, Waymo’s Chief Product Officer, said.
Across all of Waymo’s operations, the company is now serving over 10,000 trips every week to public riders, not including trips taken by its employees. This latest expansion also comes with important software updates to the Waymo One, including improved hand gesture detection, more versatile multi-point maneuvers and enhancements to Waymo’s driving performance in inclement weather like very heavy fog. Waymo AVs can also now carry up to four passengers in a vehicle.
The company plans to continue expanding its service in San Francisco and Phoenix, as well as in new cities. Waymo announced in October 2022 that it is testing its ride-hail service in Los Angeles, and earlier this year, it began completely driverless testing in the city.
Waymo began as Google’s self-driving car project in 2009. It has more than 700 vehicles in its fleet, comprising a mix of Jaguar I-PACE EVs, Chrysler Pacific Hybrid minivans and Class 8 trucks.
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