State approval clears way for commercial robotaxi service; Waymo says Sacramento rollout will be gradual as testing continues
The Waymo vehicles that have become an increasingly familiar sight on Sacramento-area streets are moving closer to carrying passengers with nobody behind the wheel.
Waymo has received approval from the California Public Utilities Commission to expand its autonomous ride-hailing service into Sacramento and San Diego, clearing a key regulatory hurdle for the company to bring paid, fully driverless rides to California’s capital region.
The approval does not mean Sacramento-area residents can hail a driverless Waymo immediately. The company says it is continuing to validate its autonomous technology locally and has not announced a date for public passenger service. But the CPUC action gives Waymo the regulatory approval needed to move toward commercial rider-only service after months of testing in the region.
“Big news for the Golden State — we have received the CPUC’s approval to expand our autonomous ride-hailing service across the SF Bay Area and LA, and bring our service to Sacramento and San Diego,” Waymo said in a statement. “Expansion will be gradual and guided by our safety framework. 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.”
The approval marks the latest and most significant step in a Sacramento expansion that has been unfolding since late last year.
The California Department of Motor Vehicles approved an expansion of Waymo’s autonomous vehicle deployment territory on Nov. 21, 2025. That authorization added portions of Northern and Southern California, including the Sacramento area, to the territory where the company’s autonomous driving technology could be deployed. Waymo subsequently filed an updated Passenger Safety Plan with the CPUC as part of the process required to expand its paid passenger operations.
Waymo announced its expansion into Sacramento in February and began putting vehicles on local streets with human autonomous specialists inside as the company mapped, tested and programmed its technology for the region’s roads. Testing later progressed to use of the driverless function while specialists remained in the vehicles.
Those vehicles have become an increasingly visible presence around Sacramento as Waymo has moved through its testing and validation process.
Waymo says its immediate focus following CPUC approval is continuing that work in Sacramento. Autonomous specialists remain in the vehicles during current testing, and the company has not announced when rider-only trips will begin.
“We are currently continuing testing operations with an autonomous specialist present in the vehicle as we prepare for the service launch in Sacramento,” Waymo spokeswoman Julia Ilina said. “We do not have any updates on timing.”
When commercial service does begin, the concept will resemble familiar app-based ride services such as Uber and Lyft, with one major difference: There will be nobody in the driver’s seat.
California divides oversight of autonomous ride-hailing between two state agencies, making the distinction between the DMV and CPUC approvals important.
The DMV regulates autonomous vehicle testing and deployment on public roads, including where Waymo’s autonomous driving system can operate. The CPUC regulates passenger transportation and Waymo’s authority to provide driverless passenger service and collect fares.
Waymo’s January filing with the CPUC made clear that its plans for Sacramento extended beyond simply testing vehicles in the newly approved territory.
“Waymo plans to expand passenger carrier service provided to the public under our CPUC Phase I Driverless Autonomous Vehicle (AV) Deployment Permit,” the company stated in Advice Letter 0004.
The filing sought approval of an updated Passenger Safety Plan reflecting the expanded operating territory previously approved by the DMV, as well as the addition of Waymo’s newest vehicle platform and updates to passenger safety procedures.
Waymo’s approved Northern California operational territory covers portions of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, Sonoma and Yolo counties.
The company’s filing describes municipalities newly added through the expanded deployment area as including those in the Sacramento area. The filing specifically names Sacramento, Vacaville and Vallejo among examples, while noting that the list is not exhaustive.
The regulatory territory, however, should not be confused with the service area Waymo will make available to customers when Sacramento operations begin. Waymo can dynamically limit its fleet to smaller geographic areas and expand incrementally as its technology is validated.
In its filing, Waymo says that before beginning driverless operation in a new geographic area, it completes a validation process and continuously monitors performance for potential issues. The company describes its approach as one of technology validation and incremental expansion.
That means state authorization covering a particular community does not necessarily mean Waymo rides will immediately be offered there.
Sacramento residents began seeing Waymo vehicles locally after the company announced its arrival in February. The company initially used its all-electric Jaguar I-PACE vehicles with autonomous specialists present as it began learning and validating the region’s streets and traffic environment.
Testing later advanced to operation of Waymo’s autonomous driving system while specialists remained inside the vehicles. The CPUC approval represents another major step between those testing operations and eventual commercial rider-only service.
Sacramento’s Waymo fleet has also undergone a noticeable transformation.
In addition to the white Jaguar I-PACE SUVs that initially appeared locally, Waymo has introduced its newer pale blue Ojai vehicles into Sacramento testing.
Ojai is the name Waymo has given its latest all-electric ride-hailing vehicle platform, previously identified as the Zeekr platform. Waymo’s regulatory filing specifies that Ojai is pronounced “oh-hi.”
The boxier, minivan-style vehicle features a low floor, high ceiling and sliding passenger doors and is designed around the needs of Waymo’s autonomous ride-hailing operation.
Waymo’s regulatory filing anticipated both the Jaguar I-PACE and Ojai operating as part of its fully autonomous, fared California service.
The vehicles rely on an array of cameras, lidar, radar and other sensors to continuously perceive their surroundings. Waymo’s Passenger Safety Plan says the system is designed to identify dynamic and stationary objects including pedestrians, cyclists, other vehicles, traffic signals, construction cones and other roadway features. External audio receivers are also used to detect and pinpoint emergency vehicle sirens.
The regulatory authorization is not limited to slow-speed downtown streets.
Waymo’s approved operational design domain, commonly referred to as an ODD, includes freeways, highways, city streets, rural roads and other roadways, along with parking lots and driveways. The approved domain encompasses all speed limits and all times of day and night.
The system is also designed to operate under various weather conditions, including rain and fog. Waymo says its automated driving system adjusts its behavior as conditions change, such as slowing as rainfall increases or fog becomes denser.
Widespread snow or ice accumulation remains outside the company’s current driverless operating parameters.
The vehicles are also designed to remain within their authorized operational territory. Riders cannot select destinations outside the approved geography, and Waymo says its software will not generate a route that takes a driverless vehicle outside its operating domain.
Once Sacramento passenger service begins, riders will use the Waymo mobile app to summon a vehicle.
Customers select a destination and pickup location through an interactive map. Before confirming the trip, the app provides an upfront fare estimate, route overview and anticipated arrival times. During the trip, passengers can see information including the estimated time to their destination.
There is no human driver to navigate traffic or intervene during a rider-only trip. Waymo’s automated driving system, known as the Waymo Driver, performs the driving task.
The updated Passenger Safety Plan describes additional features designed to give riders more control over the experience, including the ability to adjust pickup and drop-off locations in real time and activate the vehicle’s horn to help locate it. Updated in-car screens also provide passengers with a way to indicate an urgent need for support.
The absence of a human driver also creates a different set of procedures when a vehicle encounters an unexpected situation.
Waymo maintains Remote Assistance and Event Response teams that can use vehicle camera feeds and other information to evaluate an interruption and assist the autonomous driving system in resolving it.
That could include helping a vehicle route around an obstruction or complete a multipoint turn.
The vehicles can also communicate with people outside through external speakers. Waymo’s filing describes audio messages that can tell nearby motorists that a vehicle needs additional room to move or that assistance is on the way.
For police officers, firefighters and other emergency personnel, Waymo vehicles carry a QR code that connects first responders with the company’s first-responder hotline. Event Response personnel can communicate with responders through the vehicle, and Waymo says agents are trained to authorize law enforcement to transition a vehicle into manual mode so it can be manually driven if necessary.
If a vehicle cannot continue a passenger trip autonomously, Waymo says its support personnel can arrange another Waymo vehicle to complete the journey. Roadside assistance or a third-party tow service can also be dispatched.
In a medical emergency, Rider Support personnel can contact 911 if emergency services need to be sent to the vehicle’s location.
Waymo says its fleet can also respond collectively to changing conditions. If one vehicle encounters an unexpected road closure, for example, other vehicles can be routed away from the affected area. The company can also temporarily reduce its presence near areas of concern, including events such as parades, and says it works with select public safety agencies to receive rapid notification of areas first responders want vehicles to avoid.
Waymo’s updated safety plan also devotes significant attention to accessibility.
Passengers can use the app to activate a vehicle’s horn or distinctive chime to help locate their Waymo at pickup. A “minimize walking” setting can favor pickup and drop-off locations requiring less walking, even when doing so requires the vehicle to take a longer route.
Waymo’s Android and iOS applications support screen readers, while an assistive-audio setting can provide additional information throughout a ride. Passengers can also assign a unique two-letter vehicle identifier and color displayed on the vehicle to make their Waymo easier to distinguish from others.
For passengers who require wheelchair-accessible transportation, Waymo’s plan describes wheelchair-accessible vans provided through partners using conventional human drivers, with the company working to expand that offering as its service territory grows.
The Sacramento expansion comes as Waymo rapidly grows its autonomous ride-hailing operation.
In its January regulatory filing, Waymo reported providing more than 450,000 weekly “rider only” trips to paying passengers across California, Arizona, Georgia and Texas and said Waymo autonomous vehicles had provided more than 10 million trips in California alone.
Its updated Passenger Safety Plan also reported that Waymo had reached more than 1 million fully autonomous rides each month across multiple major U.S. cities, including millions of rides each quarter across the San Francisco Peninsula and greater Los Angeles areas.
Sacramento represents another significant California expansion for the company, bringing its commercial driverless transportation model into the state capital and a major inland metropolitan region.
For Sacramento-area residents, however, the biggest remaining question is also the simplest: When can they ride?
Waymo isn’t saying yet.
Its state regulatory approvals now provide a path for commercial autonomous passenger service in the Sacramento market, but the company says its expansion will remain gradual and guided by its safety framework.
For now, the Waymo vehicles residents encounter on Sacramento-area roads will continue operating as part of the company’s testing and validation process before the transition to rider-only service.
When that transition occurs, Sacramento will join Waymo’s growing network of markets where summoning a ride no longer necessarily means summoning a driver.
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