This browser does not support the Video element.
San Francisco leaders says Waymo should 'do better'
San Francisco leaders says Waymo should 'do better'
SAN FRANCISCO - Waymo temporarily paused its robotaxi service in San Francisco on Thursday as severe weather, including flash flooding concerns, moved through the Bay Area.
"Given the critical severity of the flash flood warning early this morning, we temporarily paused our service in the San Francisco Bay Area," the company told KTVU. "We are coordinating closely with city officials and emergency management, and we will bring our service back online as soon as possible inline with our safety protocols."
Waymo has since resumed service.
Customer notifications
According to CNBC, Waymo sent a notification to customers through its app stating, "Service temporarily paused due to National Weather Service flash flood warning."
A flash flood watch remains in effect for the San Francisco Bay Area and Central Coast through 10 p.m. Friday.
Previous service disruptions
Dig deeper:
This was not the first time Waymo temporarily suspended service. Last weekend, the company paused operations during a widespread PG&E outage in San Francisco that left 130,000 customers in the dark.
San Francisco mayor asked Waymo to remove robotaxis during outage
Mayor Daniel Lurie said he contacted Waymo’s chief executive officer and asked the company to remove its cars from city streets during the outage.
Videos posted on social media showed Waymo vehicles encountering intersections with non-functioning traffic lights. Some vehicles activated hazard lights and stopped abruptly, failing to cross the intersection. Others stopped in the middle of intersections, forcing other drivers to maneuver around them.
Waymo operates hundreds of robotaxis in San Francisco, though it was unclear how many were on the road at the time of the outage.
Ongoing concerns
What they're saying:
The road-blocking incidents during the power outage renewed concerns previously raised by city officials about the robotaxis periodically coming to abrupt and inexplicable stops. Those concerns were raised before California regulators approved Waymo’s commercial robotaxi service in August 2023.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.