Waymo has expanded autonomous vehicle services to select riders in Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Altos and parts of Sunnyvale, making some residents uneasy about the safety of the cars. 

Although the California Department of Motor Vehicles granted approval to Waymo One vehicles to operate in these areas, the public does not have full access to these services, according to a Waymo post on X. 

Waymo is working closely with local officials and emergency responders to safely expand operations. Last year, the company launched a “Safety Hub to offer insights into how the Waymo Driver improves road safety.” According to Waymo, as of December 2024, Waymo has powered 50 million self-driven vehicles. In San Francisco, data has shown that compared to human-driven cars, Waymo had 115 fewer injury-causing crashes, 98 fewer police-reported crashes and 32 fewer airbag deployment crashes. 

Despite these efforts, students like Palo Alto High School sophomore Alice Zhan remain skeptical of the cars’ safety. Zhan — who often uses Palo Alto Link, the city’s affordable rideshare service — said that due to safety concerns, she would not consider a switch to using Waymo as transportation. Though studies have found that Waymo is safer than a human driver, multiple accidents since its rollout have decreased public confidence in the cars.

“I don’t trust the autopilot system,” Zhan said. “Sometimes, it [Waymo cars] malfunctions and my life might be in danger.” 

However, Zhan said that a benefit of Waymo’s expansion would be increasing the number of cars available to customers, and decreasing wait times.

“[We are] refining Waymo One to be as seamless and useful as possible for our riders,” Waymo Chief Product Officer Saswat Panigrahi said in a press statement. “This means offering exceptional ride quality, short wait times, and more exciting destinations.”