Power outage halts Waymo robotaxis in San Francisco Bay Area

Waymo’s robotaxis in the San Francisco Bay Area were temporarily paralyzed after a power outage knocked out traffic lights, prompting the company to suspend service.

Waymo’s cars are programmed to treat intersections without signals as four-way stops, but the scale of the outage over the weekend proved difficult to handle. Social media and Reddit filled with videos of stationary Waymos at intersections, and the company temporarily suspended service.

Most areas saw power restored by noon yesterday, although Pacific Gas and Electric said it expected some power to remain out until Monday afternoon. “We are resuming ride-hailing service in the San Francisco Bay Area,” a company spokesperson told Ars.

Waymo said, “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 added it had coordinated with San Francisco city officials and was “focused on rapidly integrating the lessons learned from this event,” and its robotaxis are up and running again.

Key Topics

Tech, Waymo, San Francisco, Robotaxis, Traffic Signals, Utility Infrastructure