Yes, there are more driverless Waymos in S.F. Here’s how busy they are

The month before Waymo opened its driverless robotaxis to anyone in San Francisco, the company significantly expanded its presence in the city in May with more than 133,000 paid trips, or roughly 4,300 per day.

Waymo rapidly expanded its driverless ride-hailing service in San Francisco and Los Angeles that month, with more than 200,000 people riding its autonomous vehicles, most of them in San Francisco.

May represented the Alphabet-backed company’s biggest month-to-month increase in its robotaxi service since it began commercial operations in the state last fall. The jolt in activity cemented San Francisco as the most popular U.S. market for Waymo’s robotaxis, which also operate in Phoenix. 

The autonomous vehicle company has noticeably increased its ride-hailing activity almost every month since last August, when the California Public Utilities Commission allowed Waymo to commercially operate in the city. But the latest driverless ride-hailing data the company reported to the commission suggest Waymo has surged its rate of expansion in recent months.

The company’s robotaxis, for example, logged more than 903,000 vehicle miles traveled during commercial driverless ride-hailing in May. That figure reflects a 57% increase from April, when it logged 573,000 vehicular miles. It’s worth noting that those numbers are for activity in California, which now includes mileage that Waymo robotaxis have logged in Los Angeles, where the company charges driverless rides to a limited pool of users.

The latest ride-hailing data, which is as recent as May, does not include activity in the Peninsula, where Waymo’s robotaxis are currently testing with company employees ahead of its expected launch there. Nor does the data show how the company has expanded its commercial operations since opening its ride-hailing app to anyone in San Francisco in June.

Waymo attributed its activity spike in May to several factors. For one, the company says it increased the size of its robotaxi fleet in San Francisco that month. Waymo operates about 300 driverless cars in the city, up from the roughly 250 robotaxis it used to start commercial service last August. Statewide, the company has 778 vehicles listed under its deployment permit, according to the California Department of Motor Vehicles. It’s unclear exactly how many of those vehicles Waymo is currently using for commercial service in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

The company also finished approving the remainder of the 300,000 or so users in San Francisco who signed up for the company’s wait list, which it did away with in mid-June.

Waymo’s commercial launch in Los Angeles in the spring also played a factor behind its noticeable expansion, though to a lesser degree. According to census-tract level data the company must report to the CPUC, Waymo registered about 10,500 trips in its nascent Los Angeles market, up from the 1,800 or so paid driverless trips it logged there in April.

San Francisco, though, has emerged as Waymo’s most popular market. The company completed more 133,000 driverless trips in the city in May, averaging about 4,300 daily trips.

The rise in commercial activity also resulted in a jump in the number of collisions involving Waymo robotaxis. The company reported being in 27 collisions — up from 13 collisions the prior quarter — though none involved injuries.

Reach Ricardo Cano: ricardo.cano@sfchronicle.com; Twitter: @ByRicardoCano