Alphabet (GOOGL) Set to Boost Waymo Operations in San Francisco
Alphabet GOOGL is continuously making strong efforts to expand the operation of its self-driving vehicles across the United States.
The latest contentious vote from the California Public Utilities Commission (“CPUC”) for allowing Alphabet’s Waymo to run 24-hour robotaxi service in San Francisco is noteworthy and testifies to its growing Waymo efforts.
This marks a milestone for commercializing autonomous driving technology.
We note that not only Alphabet but also one of its peers, General Motors GM, received the same approval for its Cruise vehicles.
Thus, the move of CPUC peps up the battle in the autonomous driving market.
Earlier, both Waymo and Cruise received permits from CPUC to offer rides to passengers throughout California. However, there were some restrictions, which got lifted by CPUC’s latest three-to-one vote.
The vote allows both companies to operate day and night and charge passengers for citywide trips.
Waymo’s Expansion Efforts
The latest move bodes well for Waymo’s growing efforts toward reaching out to more customers on the back of its robust driverless technology and expansion efforts.
Recently, Waymo entered into a multi-year partnership with Uber Technologies UBER to offer an autonomous driving experience to the latter’s customers in Phoenix, AZ.
The deal is likely to aid Waymo in expanding its customer reach in Arizona, on the heels of Uber’s strong and huge customer base.
This apart, Waymo recently expanded the operating area of Waymo One in Phoenix, which now includes rides to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.
Further, Waymo’s effort to expand its operations to downtown Phoenix remains noteworthy. It also rolled out a rider-only service in downtown Phoenix.
Apart from Phoenix, the company recently started testing its self-driving vehicles on the streets of Bellevue, WA.
Growth Prospects
The above-mentioned endeavors will help Alphabet further penetrate the booming autonomous driving space.
According to a report from Mordor Intelligence, the autonomous car market is expected to reach $93.31 billion by 2028 by registering a CAGR of 22.75% between 2023 and 2028.
We believe that expanding Waymo’s efforts will continue to strengthen Alphabet’s competitive position against Amazon AMZN, which is also making every effort to capitalize on the growth prospects in the autonomous driving space.
Amazon’s buyout of Zoox, a developer of autonomous ride-hailing vehicles, remains a major positive. Further, the company’s launch of its first self-driving robotaxi strengthened its position in the autonomous driving space.
Zoox has been testing its autonomous vehicles in San Francisco, Las Vegas and Foster City. It intends to open an engineering office and operations facility this year, which will act as a base for its autonomous vehicle testing.
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