CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA – If you’ve spent any time in San Francisco lately, you’ve seen them–sleek white Jaguar cars with spinning lasers on top, navigating through traffic without a human behind the wheel.
Waymos have been ubiquitous in the city. I ride them at least once per week, and it’s a surprisingly pleasant, relaxing experience to be driven around town by an AI robot.
Now, the company reports that it’s received the green light from California’s Department of Motor vehicles to expand operations through most of the Bay Area–including the 925!
Colorful DMV maps authorizing full self-driving extend up to Napa and Sonoma (and in fact as far north as Sacramento, and as far south as San Jose. Previously, the company had received authorization to operate in most of the South Bay.
To be clear, just because Waymo has received authorization to operate in an area, that doesn’t mean Waymo vehicles will start popping up on the streets right away…