Waymo announced over the weekend that the company intends to broaden its service areas across the Golden State.
There’s no stopping Waymo’s ascent into omnipresence. The Google-owned autonomous driving company is expanding service networks across zipcodes where its cars are deployed, and rideshare booking numbers continue outpacing industry competition. If trend extrapolations put against public data prove right, there’s a high probability Waymo rides could best Uber in San Francisco by this time next year — or sooner. (Waymo is already ahead of Lyft, as of publishing.)
We’re officially authorized to drive fully autonomously across more of the Golden State.
Next stop: welcoming riders in San Diego in mid-2026! ☀️ pic.twitter.com/mWs4tISPiq
— Waymo (@Waymo) November 21, 2025
Waymo, too, has broken into the cultural zeitgeist; the company’s inherent novelty is a boon for social media virality. Next year could see the company jump through another window into pop culture promients: Wine country road trips, sans a human driver.
“We’re officially authorized to drive fully autonomously across more of the Golden State,” reads a post on X by Waymo, showing its expected service range in Northern California extended as far up noth as Sea Ranch and build on its southward service region, which will see rides in Los Gatos. Southern California is also slated to see ridership availability boom — “Next stop: welcoming riders in San Diego in mid-2026!”
But hearing (reading?) about Waymo’s looming NorCal expansion, we, as well as most of the internet, were keen on saying the quiet part out loud: Driverless daytrip to Wine Country tastings could become a reality sooner than we all thought.
it’s a saturday in 2026. you spent the afternoon getting wine-drunk in napa, and now you’re tucked into a waymo heading back to sf. the sun is setting over the golden gate bridge. this is what the future was supposed to feel like. life is good. https://t.co/4CABmkwIB8
— “paula” (@paularambles) November 21, 2025
(Think about it: You call your autonomous Jaguar i-Pace, minutes before puting in your contact lenses and applying SPF 50; said hailed Waymo parks outside your Nob Hill domkcile, the initials of your first and last name halloed atop one the car’s LiDAR sensors; sugar-free Red Bull in one hand and a book holstered in your Adida’s shoulder bag, the ride begins — sans any awkward small talk, off putting smell, or missguided soundtrack; you opt to take a longer route that has your car drive over the Golden Gate Bridge, a pricey detour for sure, and roll down a heavily tinted window to see ships navigating the chilly blue waters; you ascend the headlands, traverse through hilly plains that mound like camel backs, and continue nursing your elixi of caffeine and B vitamins in complete serenity; the door slamps, your friend’s ask how your robotaxi roadtrip was, a full-bodied red wine is decanting as your driverless cars disappears undenreath a sunset-soaekd horizon.)
Waymo’s new DMV permitted area encompasses other popular daytrip areas, like Bodega Bay, Sacramento, and inland parts of the Valley. It’s unclear when these new service areas will go online — commercial service to SFO is taking years, but zipcode expansions to areas in the South Bay and along the Peninsula have taken less time, though sometime in 2026 is expected, per Waymo.
When they do, expect to pay a pretty penny; Waymo’s rideshare services typically run about 15% to 20% more per mile than those offered by Uber and Lyft. But the idea of spontaneous, driverless trips to and from Wine County does live rent-free in our introverted minds.
