LOS GATOS — The era of driverless cars in Santa Cruz County is starting small.
The California Department of Motor Vehicles has given autonomous vehicle company Waymo the green light to pursue expanded operations in Southern California and the Bay Area, including within a slice of territory in the Lexington Hills near Los Gatos that overlaps unincorporated Santa Cruz and Santa Clara counties.
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“We appreciate the DMV’s approval of our expanded fully autonomous operations. We’re proud to provide over one million safe, reliable, magical rides every month in San Francisco and Los Angeles, and we’re looking forward to opening our service to more Californians,” a Waymo spokesperson told the Sentinel in a statement. “Our next stop in the Golden State will be San Diego, where we’ll welcome our first riders in mid-2026.”
The DMV may have provided its approval for Waymo’s expansion, but the autonomous vehicle company will also need to receive the go-ahead from the California Public Utilities Commission prior to launching commercial passenger service in the new areas. As Waymo alluded to in its statement, a DMV spokesperson told the Sentinel the company had indicated it does not intend to begin operating commercially in the expanded areas before May 1 of next year. It was not made clear when the utilities commission process would begin.
Santa Cruz County Community Development and Infrastructure spokesperson Tiffany Martinez said that the county is not aware of any other driverless vehicle companies that have operations approved within the county. Martinez also clarified that state authorities wield all the power to regulate the nascent industry and the county does not have any permitting authority.
“Our department does not regulate autonomous vehicle operations and no permits would come from our department or infrastructure changes would be required,” said Martinez. “We will continue our standard roadway management and will coordinate with state agencies if needed.”
According to state code, driverless vehicle manufacturers must notify local authorities prior to testing vehicles in a specific jurisdiction, Martinez noted. This includes a list of public roads where the vehicles will be tested, the date testing will begin, the days and times that testing will be conducted on public roads, the number and types of vehicles that will be tested and contact information for a representative from the manufacturer.
Waymo, owned by Google’s parent company Alphabet, launched its first autonomous vehicle on public roads in 2015 and rolled out the first commercial robotaxi service in Phoenix in 2018. It then expanded to San Francisco with a public rider-only service in 2022.
But the company’s operations in the Bay Area have also stirred up some recent anger and scrutiny from local residents. According to a report from Mission Local, a San Francisco-based newsroom, a Waymo vehicle ran over a small, unleashed dog in the Western Addition area of the city Nov. 30. The condition of the dog was unclear. That incident came only weeks after KitKat, a well-known Mission District bodega cat, was killed by a Waymo car, prompting Mission District Supervisor Jackie Fielder to call on state policymakers to let individual county voters decide if they want autonomous vehicles on their roads.
“We are dedicated to learning from this situation and how we show up for our community as we continue improving road safety in the cities we serve,” a Waymo spokesperson told Mission Local in a statement.
According to a 2024 report from UC Davis, tens of thousands of animals are killed by drivers on California roadways each year, though, the top “hot spots” in the report are located on highway routes.