Waymo is expanding its services across Los Angeles County to offer fully autonomous ride-hailing in Manhattan Beach, El Segundo and Torrance, the company announced Tuesday. Waymo will service 210 square miles across L.A., expanding access to South Bay and popular destinations like Universal Studios and The Beverly Hills Hotel.
The expansion is part of a greater effort from Waymo to broaden its scope of service to cities across the U.S., including L.A., San Diego and the San Francisco Bay Area. Waymo announced on Oct. 27 that it would expand farther north in San Diego to La Jolla, and south in the Bay Area to offer a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) train connection at Berryessa Station.
Waymo received approval for the expansion from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) in August, which the company said in a post on X would be “gradual” and “guided by our safety framework.” Approval from the CPUC allowed Waymo to formally launch its latest Ojai vehicle in the city, which previously operated as a free pilot program in L.A.
“We look forward to bringing the same mobility and safety benefits millions of Californians already enjoy to more communities, keeping local officials and residents informed every step of the way,” Waymo’s post on X reads.
According to the CPUC disposition letter, additional safety updates to Waymo’s latest fleet include improvements to accessibility, vehicle identification, pickup and drop-off protocols, responses to adverse events within and outside vehicles and communication with passengers.
According to the California Autonomous Vehicle Crash Dashboard created by UC Berkeley’s Safe Transportation Research and Education Center, there were about 200 crashes reported in L.A. County in 2025 involving a Waymo vehicle, about three times the amount in 2024. This year, there have been 198 reported, though over 80% caused no apparent injuries.
Waymo’s latest safety impact report states that through June of this year, Waymo had 82% fewer injury-causing crashes compared to an average human driver over the same distance in its operating cities. It also reported 95% fewer serious injury-causing crashes, and 93% fewer pedestrian crashes with injuries.
Waymo’s operations in L.A. County have raised concerns among residents of Commerce, due to its vehicles conducting training in neighborhoods across the city, according to an Instagram post from the city on Thursday. To address the concerns, the city said in the post that its public safety division increased its monitoring of Waymo vehicles, including overnight patrols in residential neighborhoods. The city said it would cite or tow illegally parked Waymos.
The post Waymo Expands Its Service Across L.A. appeared first on LAmag.
