Santa Clara County Makes the List as Waymo Wins Statewide Expansion

Santa Clara County is one of 18 California counties where Waymo now has regulatory permission to operate its driverless ride-hailing service, following an approval from state regulators announced Friday.

The California Public Utilities Commission signed off on the company's expansion request, Waymo said, clearing the way for the largest growth of its robotaxi service to date. The company announced the decision Friday afternoon, saying the rollout "will be gradual and guided by our safety framework."

What was approved

The approval came through Waymo's Advice Letter No. 4, filed with the commission in January, as reported by Electrek. Regulators had suspended the filing through late September for additional review, and the company submitted a supplemental letter in May before the approval cleared.

The 18 counties span most of the state's population. In Northern California they are Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, Sonoma and Yolo. In Southern California they are Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Ventura. Sacramento and San Diego are new markets for the company.

What it does not mean

Permission is not a schedule. Approval to operate within a county does not mean driverless cars appear on every street inside it, and Waymo has not published a timeline for where service expands first. As Engadget noted in its report, the company likely will not have robotaxis operating in all 18 counties immediately.

For Saratoga residents, the practical takeaway is narrower than the headline: the regulatory door for Santa Clara County is now open, and the question of when a driverless car might pull up on Big Basin Way is Waymo's to answer, not the state's.

Sources: Electrek; Engadget.

Sources

https://electrek.co/2026/08/14/waymo-cpuc-approval-california-expansion-18-counties/

https://www.engadget.com/2237530/waymo-receives-permission-to-offer-rides-in-sacramento-and-san-diego