A Waymo rider-only robotaxi is seen during a test ride in San Francisco, California, U.S., December 9, 2022. REUTERS/Paresh Dave/File Photo
(Reuters) -Waymo will expand into more areas of the San Francisco peninsula and parts of Silicon Valley, as the sole commercial robotaxi operator in the U.S. seeks to scale up operations, the Alphabet unit said on Tuesday.
The self-driving technology firm had received approval from California last month to expand operations, just as Tesla prepares to launch its paid robotaxi service in Austin, Texas.
Starting Tuesday, Waymo is expanding its autonomous ride-hailing service to new areas across the peninsula, including Brisbane, South San Francisco, San Bruno, Millbrae and Burlingame.
In the Silicon Valley, Waymo is expanding into more parts of Palo Alto and Menlo Park. It will also expand into more parts of Los Angeles starting Wednesday, including Playa del Rey, Ladera Heights, Echo Park, Silver Lake, and the full stretch of Sunset Boulevard, the Alphabet unit said.
While the company has received approval to expand into San Jose, it has not yet revealed plans to launch the service in the city.
Waymo is the only U.S. firm to run robotaxi services with paying passengers. It has more than 1,500 vehicles, running over 250,000 rides a week across San Francisco and Los Angeles in California, Phoenix in Arizona and Austin in Texas.
(Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru and Abhirup Roy in San Francisco; Editing by Leroy Leo)
