Waymo Robotaxis Reach Torrance, El Segundo and Manhattan Beach, but Still Can't Go to LAX

The driverless service now covers about 210 square miles of L.A. County and adds Universal Studios and the Beverly Hills Hotel, as crashes involving its cars rise along with the fleet.

By Herald Staff · Nov. 3, 2026, 5:20 PM ET

A tall, boxy white electric robotaxi with a roof-mounted sensor dome and an empty driver's seat rolls along a palm-lined coastal road beside beach houses, with a long pier and its small roundhouse stretching into the Pacific under an amber and rose sunset sky. — Waymo's driverless cars can now carry riders through El Segundo, Manhattan Beach and Redondo Beach to Torrance, though trips to and from LAX remain off-limits.

Riders in the South Bay can now hail a car with no one behind the wheel. Waymo expanded its Los Angeles service area on Tuesday to take in Torrance, El Segundo and Manhattan Beach, growing the region its robotaxis cover to about 210 square miles, the Los Angeles Times reported. One notable gap remains: riders still can't request a trip to or from Los Angeles International Airport.

The Mountain View-based company, a unit of Alphabet, also added several high-demand destinations to its network, including Universal Studios and the Beverly Hills Hotel, according to the Times and Los Angeles magazine.

Down the Coast

Waymo previewed the move a week ago. In an Oct. 27 post on its blog, the company said that over the following week it would be "scaling in five cities and adding nearly 250 square miles of territory across Los Angeles, Nashville, Orlando, San Diego and the San Francisco Bay Area." For Los Angeles, it said simply, "we're extending down the coast to the South Bay, adding Torrance."

The company's updated map shows coverage running from its existing territory around Santa Monica, Inglewood and downtown south through El Segundo, Manhattan Beach and Redondo Beach to Torrance, NBC Los Angeles reported. Before the change, Waymo's service page described an area stretching from Santa Monica to Echo Park and south to Inglewood.

Waymo itself has not published an official figure for how much ground the South Bay adds. An independent tracker that pulls maps from the Waymo app put the Los Angeles service area at 213 square miles after the change, up 88 square miles, or about 71%, according to the trade site Eletric-Vehicles.com.

Still No LAX

The new map wraps around the airport rather than through it. Waymo told the Times it is in discussions with airport officials about serving riders at LAX. Last year, a Los Angeles World Airports representative said the airport would move to integrate Waymo taxis once its automated people mover is finished. That project has been delayed repeatedly since 2023 and will now open in February at the earliest, the Times reported. Eletric-Vehicles.com noted that Waymo has asked Los Angeles riders to lobby city and airport officials to let its robotaxis serve the airport.

The expansion follows the debut of Waymo's next-generation vehicle, the Ojai, which the company launched in May. The Times described it as cheaper to deploy and better equipped for extreme weather. Los Angeles magazine reported that the California Public Utilities Commission approved the expansion in August, which also allowed the Ojai to launch formally in the city after operating as a free pilot program. The commission's approval letter listed updates to accessibility, vehicle identification, pickup and drop-off procedures and communication with passengers. Waymo said on X that the rollout would be "gradual" and "guided by our safety framework."

Safety Questions as the Fleet Grows

As the fleet grows, so does the number of crashes. Crashes involving Waymo vehicles in L.A. County tripled last year, according to a Times review of data filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, though most were fender benders. About 80% of the crashes reported in the county this year caused no apparent injuries, 15% caused possible injuries and fewer than 1% caused a suspected serious injury, the Times found. Los Angeles magazine, citing a crash dashboard built by UC Berkeley's Safe Transportation Research and Education Center, counted about 200 crashes in the county in 2025 and 198 so far this year.

Waymo says its crash rate per million miles has fallen every year since 2023. Its latest safety impact report says that through June, its vehicles had 82% fewer injury-causing crashes than an average human driver over the same distance in its operating cities, along with 95% fewer serious-injury crashes and 93% fewer pedestrian-injury crashes.

Not every community has welcomed the cars. Los Angeles magazine reported that the city of Commerce, where Waymo vehicles have been training in residential neighborhoods, said last week it had stepped up monitoring, including overnight patrols, and would cite or tow illegally parked Waymos.

Part of a Wider Push

The South Bay launch came the same day Waymo pushed its San Diego service north to La Jolla, and it added territory in Nashville, Orlando and the Bay Area, including a new BART connection at Berryessa Station, the Times reported. Waymo has offered fully driverless rides in Los Angeles since 2024 and now operates in 15 U.S. cities.

"We look forward to bringing the same mobility and safety benefits millions of Californians already enjoy to more communities, keeping local officials and residents informed every step of the way," the company said in its post on X.

Original reporting by The Los Angeles Herald, drawing on the Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles magazine, NBC Los Angeles, Eletric-Vehicles.com and Waymo, as linked above.