Waymo said Sunday afternoon that it would return its autonomous fleet to San Francisco’s streets after pulling its cars off the road when they contributed to widespread traffic disruptions during the weekend blackout.
“We are resuming ride-hailing service in the San Francisco Bay Area,” company spokesperson Suzanne Philion wrote at 3:51 p.m.
“Yesterday’s power outage was a widespread event that caused gridlock across San Francisco, with non-functioning traffic signals and transit disruptions. While the failure of the utility infrastructure was significant, we are committed to ensuring our technology adjusts to traffic flow during such events.”
The company said it is “already learning and improving from this event,” and that “the sheer scale of the outage led to instances where vehicles remained stationary longer than usual to confirm the state of the affected intersections.”
“This contributed to traffic friction during the height of the congestion,” it wrote.
Videos and images went viral online, showing groups of Waymos stalled at non-functioning traffic signals on Saturday, causing long backups.
Waymo said Mayor Daniel Lurie’s office reached out to the company on Saturday to help clear the gridlock its cars were contributing to, and “reduce overall vehicle density” in the city. Lurie’s office declined to answer questions on the record.
The Pacific Gas & Electric Co. blackout affected 125,000 homes and customers at its peaks, a third of San Francisco, across the western and central parts of the city. By Sunday afternoon, power had been restored to all but about 15,000 customers, most of them in the Richmond District.
Full power was expected to return by 2 p.m. on Monday, Lurie and Supervisor Connie Chan said.
> Waymo said Mayor Daniel Lurie’s office reached out to the company on Saturday to help clear the gridlock its cars were contributing to and “reduce overall vehicle density” in the city.
Cool. Thanks for the coordinated response. Did Lyft, Uber, DoorDash, or any of the other companies that usually cause hell on our streets respond similarly?
Alex, are you suggesting that any vehicle that uses the City’s streets is somehow inherently bad?
I’ll quote myself to answer your question:
> any of the other companies that usually cause hell on our streets
Waymo, Lyft etc. just present residents with additional options for getting around or receiving deliveries. If you do not like them, then do not use them. But let others who do like them exercise their preferences.
This irrational opposition to new and diverse transit options reminds me of the equally irrational opposition to Airbnb and other examples of the sharing economy 20 years ago. And now Airbnb, Uber etc. are global phenomenons.
Crap companies != “new transportation options” – you’re just making excuses for screwing regulated cabs out of business under the guise of paying people less than minimum wage and calling that a “service” when it’s the opposite, it’s what Doctorow rightly calls ‘enshittification’. We don’t celebrate that. AirBNB is another crap company and perfect example.
Waymo, Lyft, Uber and Doordash are inherently bad.
Anyone not able to see that is literally blind.
Crap companies all.
I’ve felt for a long time that Waymo shouldn’t be allowed to have two cars next to each other in adjoining lanes, precisely because of issues like this. Even nearby each other or clustered in other configurations. Too much potential for blockage in emergencies or if the cars themselves stop for other reasons, and other vehicles can’t get around them. Total menace.
Boycott Waymo. Waymo is garbage. Waymo contributes nothing to San Francisco and profits mightily.
Trash company, trash customers, trash Waymo. We do not need Waymo.