Waymo ridership skyrocketed in SF this year—here's how much

Waymo ridership skyrocketed in San Francisco since the start of the year, according to data shared by the San Francisco County Transportation Authority. 

Though some people are uncomfortable with the technology, that's not stopping riders from choosing a driverless option. 

Data released by the California Public Utilities Commission and shared by SFCTA details how trip volume for Waymo's driverless vehicles increased fourfold this year. 

Waymo operated 77,000 driverless rides in SF in January of this year. That number grew to more than 312,000 Waymo rides in the month of August. 

"We’re building a safer future one ride at a time, and I’m thrilled to share that we've just surpassed 100k paid trips per week!" read a post from Waymo's co-CEO, Tekedra N. Mawakana in mid-August. 

The data released by CPUC also shows where those trips took place. The heaviest use of Waymo's driverless vehicles appears to be centralized in the Tenderloin, Union Square, Nob Hill and Chinatown neighborhoods, as shown in the image below. 

The company also celebrated another milestone in August: making plans to deploy and test driverless Waymos on Bay Area freeways, rather than just in the city. Those test rides will only be available to Waymo employees for the time being. 

Driverless vehicle companies have faced several challenges over the past few years. Crashes, pedestrian injuries and other issues have been at the forefront as technology companies iterate their vehicles and software in San Francisco. 

Cruise was forced to shut down its driverless operations in San Francisco last year after the California Department of Motor Vehicles revoked its driverless vehicle permit. The company was fined $1.5 million by the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration for failing to disclose details about its crashes in September.