Waymo confirms San Mateo County expansion coming this May

But the state’s determination was a blow to many elected officials, including San Mateo County Board of Supervisors David Canepa, who said Waymo hasn’t done much to assuage the concerns of local leaders and the communities they will operate in.

“We’ve seen what’s happened in San Francisco. This is a public safety issue. I’m not convinced that there is enough coordination going on in San Mateo County around autonomous vehicles,” Canepa said.

The Board of Supervisors has been vocal in their pursuit to gain more local control over how autonomous vehicles are deployed in their jurisdictions, as once the California Department of Motor Vehicles and the Public Utilities Commission approve the technology, the matter is in many ways out of cities’ hands. The county passed a resolution in support of Senate Bill 915, which would entrust cities with more authority over AV operations, and it also filed an amicus brief in support of San Francisco’s decision to sue the CPUC over the regulator’s decision to approve Waymo and Cruise expansion.

The matter has also raised the attention of federal lawmakers, including U.S. Reps. Kevin Mullin, D-South San Francisco, and Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, who recently penned a letter to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, requesting more in-depth reporting requirements, including vehicles’ total miles traveled, number of AVs on the road, non-collision data that caused obstructions — such as traffic flow disruption — and how often the vehicles were involved in near misses, or were close to a collision.

According to Waymo’s announcement, autonomous vehicles without a driver will operate north of San Mateo, and rides will initially be available to company employees only. Areas south of San Mateo will maintain a driver during the initial roll-out, and much of the coastal communities are excluded from the current expansion plan. Autonomous vehicles have operated on the Peninsula for a while but did not allow for commercial operations, such as taxi services, and required the presence of an individual in the car.

The news has been welcoming for some, including Amy Buckmaster, CEO of the Chamber San Mateo County, who said in a statement that the organization is “excited about Waymo’s progress on the Peninsula and the future opportunities that come with neighbors connecting with neighbors to eventually help support local businesses.”

Waymo Communications Manager Sandy Karp said the team has been in regular contact with not only electeds but with the community members as well.

“We regularly meet with local officials, and before any meaningful update or expansion, we let them know what’s happening,” she said. “We also meet regularly with first responders and provide first responder outreach and training.”

But Canepa said that while the innovative technology can be a boon to the area, it must also be paired with more safety protocol and better data transparency, despite the competitive nature of such a growing market.

“There are many more companies in this space that are interested in getting into the market, and what I’m afraid of is that the PUC, after Waymo, is just going to be issuing licenses to whether it’s Tesla or Zoox,” he said. “What I would hate to do is to make San Mateo County residents be the crash dummies for this new technology.”

According to the DMV website, Waymo has been involved in about 14 collisions so far this year throughout the state. The company said it will begin its Peninsula testing in the coming weeks.