CPUC allows major Waymo expansion

In a surprising turnaround, the CPUC published a letter on the CPUC Advice Letter Status webpage on March 1st, 2024, giving Waymo permission to greatly expand their service area, effective immediately. This was especially surprising because just two weeks ago on February 21, 2024, Waymo’s application to expand its robotaxi service in Los Angeles and San Mateo counties had been suspended for 120 days, until 6/19/2024, by the California Public Utilities Commission’s Consumer Protection and Enforcement Division (CPED). Until yesterday, the CPED said on its website that the application has been suspended for further staff review. Oddly, the suspension is no longer listed on that webpage.

It is troubling that the approval was given even though there was opposition by the City of South San Francisco, the County of San Mateo, the Los Angeles Department of Transportation, the San Francisco County Transportation Authority, and the San Francisco Taxi Workers Alliance submitted protests. There were 81 supportive responses, but it should be noted that they were mostly from organizations that had received funding from Waymo.

San Mateo Supervisor David Canepa called the CPUC’s decision “egregious and disingenuous.”

“I thought CPUC gave us 120 days to sit down with Waymo and discuss our concerns here in San Mateo County. I’m confused and a bit suspicious that the CPUC took only 11 days to change its mind on the suspension,” Canepa said in a statement. ”We have had no talks to address our concerns and it says to me that neither Waymo nor the CPUC care about local concerns about the public safety of our residents. This is why we need SB 915 by state Sen. Dave Cortese to pass in the Legislature. We need some local control over how robotaxis operate in the county because we know our roads and highways the best.”

SF Chronicle – 3/1/2024

It should be noted that CPUC does not grant Waymo permission to serve the SFO airport. To serve the airport Waymo needs separate permission from SFO, which is run by the City of San Francisco.