Waymo’s robotaxi service in San Francisco was temporarily suspended on Saturday night following a widespread blackout that left many of its vehicles stranded on city streets. Numerous photos and videos shared on social media captured the Waymo robotaxis stalled at various roads and intersections, causing disruptions for both human drivers and pedestrians.
Waymo announced the suspension of its service in San Francisco due to the blackout, which affected the entire city. It wasn’t until late Sunday afternoon that a Waymo spokesperson confirmed to TechCrunch that the service was back up and running. The spokesperson mentioned that the power outage caused chaos across San Francisco, leading to non-functioning traffic signals and transit disruptions.
The blackout also impacted the city’s traffic lights and the Muni mass transit system, prompting San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie to advise residents to avoid unnecessary travel. Waymo explained that although its self-driving systems are programmed to handle non-functioning traffic lights as four-way stops, the extensive blackout caused some robotaxis to experience longer delays at intersections. Despite the challenges, the majority of trips were completed successfully.
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The blackout was reportedly caused by a fire at a Pacific Gas & Electric substation, affecting around 120,000 customers. While most customers had their power restored by late Saturday, 35,000 were still without power on Sunday morning. Waymo’s recent growth in providing robotaxi rides was highlighted in a leaked letter from Tiger Global Management, indicating a significant increase in weekly rides compared to previous disclosures.
This article has been updated to reflect Waymo’s confirmation of service resumption.
