June 25 (Reuters) - Alphabet's Waymo said on

Tuesday its autonomous ride-hailing service, Waymo One, is now

available to everyone in San Francisco, nearly four years after

a similar move in Phoenix, Arizona.

Driverless vehicles are expected to drive commercial success

for automakers even as regulatory scrutiny remains tight amid

concerns of investors about growing investments in the nascent

technology.

Waymo had started a test service with its research-focused

program in San Francisco in 2021, which included an autonomous

specialist on board for all rides at that time, as it looked to

commercialize the technology.

The company said that about 300,000 people had signed up to

ride with Waymo since it first opened a waitlist in the city,

signaling strong demand. Now with open access, anyone can

request a ride on its app.

The company had opened access to everyone in Phoenix,

Arizona without a waitlist in 2020.

Mountain View, California-based Waymo is a self-driving

technology pioneer, which started its first U.S. driverless taxi

service in 2020 over a decade after it was born in 2009 as a

project inside Google.

In March, the company received approval from the California

Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to start its Waymo One in Los

Angeles and some cities near San Francisco.

Rivals including General Motors ( GM )-backed Cruise and

Amazon.com's ( AMZN ) Zoox are accelerating a race to succeed

amid probes by auto regulators involving the performance of

autonomous driving cars.

Last month, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety

Administration said it had learned of nine additional incidents

raising concerns about the performance of Waymo self-driving

vehicles.