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Waymo robotaxi service expands to more areas of the San Francisco Bay Area

Alphabet's Waymo unit announced on Tuesday that it will expand its operations to include more of the San Francisco Peninsula and Silicon Valley as the only commercial robotaxi operator operating in the U.S. aims to scale up.

Tesla is preparing to launch its robotaxi service, which will be paid, in Austin, Texas, as the self-driving tech firm received approval last month from California to expand operations.

Waymo will expand its autonomous ride-hailing services to include new areas on the peninsula starting Tuesday. These include Brisbane, South San Francisco and San Bruno.

Waymo expands its reach in the Silicon Valley to include more areas of Palo Alto, Menlo Park and other nearby cities. Alphabet said that it will expand to more areas of Los Angeles beginning Wednesday, including Playa del Rey and Ladera Heights as well as Silver Lake, Silver Lake Park, Echo Park and the entire stretch of Sunset Boulevard.

Although the company has been given approval to expand to San Jose, they have not revealed any plans for the launch of the service.

Waymo, the only U.S. company to offer robotaxi services that charge passengers, is the only one in this country. It operates more than 1,500 cars, providing over 250,000 rides per week in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Arizona, and Austin, Texas. (Reporting from Akash Sriram, Bengaluru; Abhirup Roy, San Francisco; editing by Leroy Leo).

(source: Reuters)