Charted: California’s Driverless Taxi Usage Grew 8x in a Single Year

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Chart: California’s Driverless Taxi Usage Grew 8x in a Single Year

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• Monthly driverless taxi passenger miles in California jumped from ~500,000 to 4 million in just one year.
• The steepest rise began after full regulatory approval of paid robotaxi services in 2023.
• California remains the epicenter of U.S. autonomous ride-hailing, with major players like Waymo and Cruise.

Autonomous vehicle adoption is accelerating—especially in California. The chart below, from Our World in Data, visualizes monthly passenger miles traveled in paid driverless taxis across the state, using data from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC).

Here’s a closer look at the numbers behind California’s rapid AV transformation:

In May 2025 alone, passengers logged more than 4 million miles in autonomous taxis—an eightfold increase from just one year prior.

Robotaxis: From Pilot Projects to Major Players

California has long served as the proving ground for autonomous vehicle technology. Companies like Alphabet’s Waymo, General Motors’ Cruise, and Tesla have used the state’s roads to test, refine, and now deploy self-driving ride-hailing services. Waymo, in particular, has led the charge in San Francisco, while Cruise has expanded operations in both the Bay Area and Los Angeles.

Tesla, meanwhile, is reportedly piloting airport rides between San Francisco and San Jose using its “Full Self-Driving” software.

The sharp rise in usage can be traced back to a key inflection point: in August 2023, regulators fully approved paid autonomous taxi services. This removed a major legal barrier and unlocked pent-up commercial demand.

California’s AV Leadership and the Road Ahead

As Our World in Data points out, California’s permissive regulatory framework, dense urban centers, and tech-forward population make it uniquely suited to lead the autonomous mobility revolution. No other U.S. state matches the combination of testing volume and commercial rollout seen in California.

For consumers, this means that in cities like San Francisco, hailing a driverless ride is already an everyday reality. In fact, California dominates the U.S. robotaxi map.

Still, challenges remain. Ongoing scrutiny around safety, software reliability, and urban congestion will shape how these services expand, both within California and beyond.

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Discover how trust in autonomous vehicles varies globally in our related Voronoi post: How Different Countries Trust Self-Driving Cars.