A car borrows its name from a small California town, yet its service area skips right past that very town. That's the most curious detail buried in Waymo's latest expansion news: the passenger van model named Ojai is now open to all riders in San Francisco, Phoenix, and Los Angeles, but the actual city of Ojai, California still isn't on Waymo's service map.
Waymo announced today that any rider can now hail a driverless ride in the Ojai model across all three cities. Built by Google's self-driving spinoff, the vehicle began limited passenger trials in the same three cities earlier this year, and has now expanded from a select waitlist to the general public. In its social media post, Waymo highlighted the van's roomy interior and backseat entertainment features as the main selling points.
This marks Waymo's second expansion announcement in the past week. Just days earlier, the company secured approval to operate its self-driving cars in Sacramento and San Diego. By comparison, the Ojai van — despite carrying the town's name — still hasn't caught up with this wave of geographic growth, making "Ojai" sound more like a promise not yet kept.
Waymo's other recent headlines haven't been as smooth. Last November, the company opened up freeway routes for riders in select cities, but a recall hit in May after some vehicles drove into closed construction zones, which also put freeway service on pause. It wasn't until July that Waymo restored freeway driving access for its self-driving cars.
There's currently no official timeline for whether the Ojai model will ever make it to the actual town of Ojai, California.
