{"id":166500,"date":"2026-02-06T09:11:47","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T09:11:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/166500\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T09:11:47","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T09:11:47","slug":"waymo-entering-boston-sacramento-where-next","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/166500\/","title":{"rendered":"Waymo Entering Boston & Sacramento \u2014 Where Next?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Support CleanTechnica’s work through a Substack subscription<\/a> or on Stripe<\/a>.
\n
\n
Or support our Kickstarter campaign<\/a>!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We already knew that Waymo<\/a> was going to be entering several new markets in 2026. With the company raising $16 billion to expand more rapidly, I also expected we\u2019d see some announcements about such expansions this week. And now we have them. The company has announced that it is now implementing the steps that lead to launching commercial service in Boston and Sacramento.<\/p>\n

The Cradle of Liberty<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIn America\u2019s 250th year, we\u2019re excited to return to Boston \u2014 one of the nation\u2019s oldest cities \u2014 to build on insights from last year\u2019s road trip as we lay the groundwork for serving Bostonians in the future,\u201d Waymo writes. \u201cWe learned a lot from last year\u2019s visit, and we\u2019re excited to continue effectively adapting to Boston\u2019s cobblestones, narrow alleyways, roundabouts and turnpikes. We\u2019re also\u00a0validating<\/a> our 6th-generation Waymo Driver across some of the snowiest cities in the country to support fully autonomous operations in a wide range of winter weather, so Massachusetts residents and visitors can have an even more dependable way to get around.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oh, yes. Good point. It snows in Boston! There\u2019s long been much discussion around the challenges of implementing self-driving technology in snow, but Waymo has been working hard on it for years and seems capable of handling it now. Naturally, that\u2019s not just important for Boston, but for many cities.<\/p>\n

However, Waymo also notes that it can\u2019t launch robotaxis in Boston just yet, because fully autonomous driving isn\u2019t legal in Massachusetts. \u201cBefore offering fully autonomous rides to Bostonians, we\u2019ll first need the state to legalize fully autonomous vehicles. We\u2019re looking forward to engaging with officials to inform that path. By legalizing this safety-enhancing technology, Massachusetts can bring additional safety, greater accessibility, and new career opportunities to the Commonwealth.\u201d Well, yes, that does seem important.<\/p>\n

In fact, in general, Waymo seems to have shifted more effort to lobbying on this matter. The company also reported yesterday that its Chief Safety Officer, Dr. Mauricio Pe\u00f1a, was testifying to the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation to advance its agenda.<\/p>\n

City of Trees<\/p>\n

Across the vast United States, Waymo is going through a similar process in Sacramento. \u201cWaymo is headed to Sacramento! As California\u2019s capital and a growing center for progress, Sacramento\u2019s spirit of innovation makes it the perfect next step for our expansion. We are eager to bring the future of mobility to this vibrant community, connecting its historic landmarks with its modern neighborhoods,\u201d the company writes.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cStarting this week, we\u2019ll begin manually driving a fleet of our all-electric Jaguar I-PACE vehicles around the Capital City. This initial phase allows the Waymo Driver to get to know Sacramento\u2019s unique dynamics\u2014from tree-lined avenues to busy downtown corridors\u2014as we prepare to welcome public riders in the future. We\u2019ll follow the same step-by-step approach we\u2019ve taken in the six major cities that we currently operate in, and work closely with state and city leaders to ensure our service meets the diverse needs of Sacramento\u2019s residents and the thousands of visitors who walk its historic blocks every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, robotaxis are already legal in California, and Waymo is operating them there, so this should be a quick and smooth rollout.<\/p>\n

Waymo, again, highlights the safety benefits of its vehicles. \u201cOur expansion aligns with Sacramento\u2019s ambitious Vision Zero goals to eliminate traffic fatalities and serious injuries. The data to date shows Waymo is improving road safety where it operates, and we look forward to supporting the city\u2019s mission of creating safer streets for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

We need many more miles<\/a> in order to truly understand how much Waymo is improving human safety on the roads, but the signs<\/a> have all been very positive<\/a> up until now.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs Sacramento grows, so does our need for safe, reliable transportation,\u201d said Kevin McCarty, Mayor of Sacramento. \u201cWe\u2019re excited to work with Waymo to expand mobility options that are designed with safety at their core. By offering new ways to move around the Capital City, we\u2019re providing our residents with more choice while staying focused on our goal of making every street safer for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Are we noticing a trend in messaging?<\/p>\n

Support CleanTechnica via Kickstarter<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Sign up for CleanTechnica’s Weekly Substack for Zach and Scott’s in-depth analyses and high level summaries<\/a>, sign up for our daily newsletter<\/a>, and follow us on Google News<\/a>!<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n


\n
\n\u00a0<\/p>\n

Have a tip for CleanTechnica? Want to advertise? Want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Sign up for our daily newsletter for 15 new cleantech stories a day<\/a>. Or sign up for our weekly one on top stories of the week<\/a> if daily is too frequent.<\/p>\n

CleanTechnica uses affiliate links. See our policy here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

CleanTechnica’s Comment Policy<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Support CleanTechnica’s work through a Substack subscription or on Stripe. Or support our Kickstarter campaign! We…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":166501,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[10980,5989,121,123,122,5987,66438],"class_list":["post-166500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-boston","tag-robotaxis","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news","tag-waymo","tag-waymo-robotaxis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166500","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=166500"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166500\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/166501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=166500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=166500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=166500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}