Next Stop for Waymo One: Los Angeles

Los Angeles will be Waymo’s next ride-hailing city, joining Phoenix and San Francisco as we expand to more locations. We’ve gotten to know many LA neighborhoods, including Downtown and Miracle Mile, Koreatown, Santa Monica, Westwood and West Hollywood, and we’ll begin driving autonomously in several central districts over the coming months as we prepare to serve Angelenos.

We’ll deploy a round-the-clock service that provides more accessible and dependable mobility options to all residents of LA – whether they’re carpooling to work along Pico, catching a ride to the nearest Metro stop, meeting up with friends at The Broad, or taking the kids to Dodger Stadium.

“When we think about our next cities, Los Angeles jumps out,” said Waymo’s co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana. “LA is a remarkable, vibrant place – and Waymo’s experience leaves us best positioned to tackle its driving complexity. We’re working closely with Angelenos to ensure we’re addressing the transportation needs and priorities of their communities as we bring the Waymo Driver to LA.”

Our operations in Los Angeles build on our unparalleled expertise across both ride-hailing and trucking. Everything we’ve learned over 12 years of autonomous driving has prepared us to serve Angelenos.

Waymo remains the only company operating a fully autonomous, commercial ride-hailing service for passengers round the clock in Phoenix’s East Valley – no NDAs, remote operators or pre-defined pick-ups. We’re the first and only company in the world providing autonomous ride-hail trips to and from an airport (Phoenix’s Sky Harbor), and we drive more fully autonomous miles in the U.S. than any other company.

We’ve also autonomously driven millions of miles on freeways, giving us a head start handling some of Los Angeles’s most challenging roads. Roads that include criss-crossing freeway ramps, narrow surface streets, high numbers of unprotected left turns, blinding sunsets down its east-west roads, and distracted drivers. We’re excited to serve Angelenos with an autonomous driving technology that outperforms even highly attentive human drivers at avoiding fatal crash scenarios – the Waymo Driver.

With approximately 13 million residents, the Los Angeles metropolitan area is one of the largest ride-hailing service areas in the world and the third largest in the U.S., with an estimated market opportunity of $2 billion in 2022. As a commercial opportunity, Los Angeles is the equivalent of a dozen smaller U.S. ride-hailing market opportunities combined.

We’re grateful for the support from key local LA community partners, including MADD California and Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, and local stakeholders.

"If we want to change the car culture in Los Angeles, we need to give Angelenos real alternatives to owning their own vehicle – including a world-class public transportation network, a range of active transportation options, and the convenience of mobility as a service across our City,” said Mayor Eric Garcetti. “By adding Waymo to our growing list of ways to get around, we’re making good on our commitment to ease congestion on our streets, clean our air, and give people a better way to get where they need to go.”

"The Second District of Los Angeles has a set of unique transportation challenges, with the highest rates of traffic safety issues, a lack of access to reliable and affordable transit, and limited or delayed access to emerging mobility solutions. We need technology partners who are willing to sit down with our communities and explore how their products might help us solve our transportation challenges, rather than create more. I am excited that Waymo's vision, leadership, and sustained presence in Los Angeles will result in a lasting and fruitful partnership for the Second District." Holly J. Mitchell, Chair of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and Director of the LA Metro Board.

Waymo has already made the previously unimaginable future of autonomous driving a present reality for thousands of riders in both Phoenix and San Francisco. We’re thrilled to bring this experience to Angelenos next.