Waymo to expand autonomous vehicle rides to San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Waymo’s self-driving ride-hailing service is branching out to San Francisco. The Alphabet, Inc., autonomous vehicle unit said Wednesday it has started carrying employees in electric Jaguar I-Pace SUVs without human backup drivers. Previously the company had been testing the vehicles with a safety driver behind the wheel just in case. Waymo didn’t give a date on when it might offer autonomous rides to the public in San Francisco. The company has been using autonomous minivans to carry passengers in the East Valley of the Phoenix metro area since 2020. Waymo also announced Wednesday that it is starting to expand autonomous rides to Downtown Phoenix. Testing is under way with human backup drivers and Waymo employees as passengers.