Waymo secures the green light from regulators to broaden its reach throughout the Bay Area and Southern California.

Waymo is still growing its service area; on Friday, the robotaxi firm announced that it is now “officially authorized to drive fully autonomously across more of California.”

Waymo is already active in San Francisco, Silicon Valley, and Los Angeles (as well as Atlanta, Austin, and Phoenix, outside of California). However, according to maps released by the California Department of Motor Vehicles, the company is now able to test and deploy its autonomous vehicles in a significantly larger area in both Northern and Southern California.

Waymo’s approved operating areas in the Bay Area now encompass the majority of the East Bay and North Bay (including Napa/Wine Country), as well as Sacramento. The company’s approved territory in Southern California now spans from Santa Clarita (north of Los Angeles) to San Diego.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the company will need further regulatory permission before it can transport paying customers in some of these areas.

Waymo’s post lacks specifics on when it intends to begin providing rides in all of these new locations, but the company did state, “Next stop: welcoming riders in San Diego in mid-2026!”

The company had previously stated its intention to launch in San Diego next year, along with Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Las Vegas, Miami, Nashville, Orlando, San Antonio, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.

There has been a lot of news regarding Waymo’s expansion in recent weeks, with announcements that it will be launching in Minneapolis, New Orleans, and Tampa; eliminating safety drivers prior to its commercial launch in Miami; and commencing rides that use freeways in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Phoenix.

On the latest episode of the Equity podcast, we discussed the growth of Waymo and other robotaxi companies. My co-host Sean O’Kane observed that as Waymo expands access across the Bay Area, people may spend considerably more time in their robotaxis, potentially leading to new, unusual, or even hazardous uses of the service.