Waymo on Friday got the green light from state regulators (opens in new tab)to expand its driverless taxi routes from San Francisco to the East Bay and Sacramento, up into Sonoma County and down through the Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve. The new territory would include rural areas that could pose new challenges for the robotaxis, including narrow two-lane highways with hairpin turns, unpredictable wildlife, and long distances from the nearest emergency services. For now, the farthest you can take a Waymo from San Francisco is San Jose. While it is unlikely Waymos will be ferrying you to wine country or hugging the curves of Highway 1 beyond Pacifica anytime soon, the state approval is a necessary first step. As it does for all new locations, the company first needs to send manned cars to collect data and map out the area. And there’s no guarantee the company will add service to all the new areas. “While we are excited to receive these permits today, we will not launch in these new cities immediately,” a Waymo spokesperson said. Waymo, Amazon’s Zoox, and other autonomous vehicles are regulated by two state agencies: the Department of Motor Vehicles and the California Public Utilities Commission. The latter granted Waymo’s new approval and has given the company the all-clear to offer paid rides in its Ojai driverless vans. Since it started in Phoenix and San Francisco, Alphabet-owned Waymo has been steadily expanding its service areas, mainly in urban and suburban zones. This expansion would be one of the first in such a large rural area. The newly approved zones include Walnut Creek, Brentwood, Livermore, and Fremont to the east of San Francisco. It covers the coastline south past Pescadero and goes as far north as Sea Ranch — more than 100 miles from