Waymo faces scrutiny in San Francisco over past failures
San Francisco leaders grill Waymo over failures
Autonomous ride company Waymo is in the hot seat on two fronts. Rideshare drivers in San Francisco on Monday denounced the company for driving them out of business, while city leaders grilled the company about past failures.
SAN FRANCISCO - Autonomous ride-hailing company Waymo is facing criticism on two fronts in San Francisco.
Rideshare drivers on Monday denounced the company, saying its self-driving vehicles are driving them out of business. They have also pointed to a December incident during a widespread power outage as evidence that the technology is not ready for real-world conditions.
One driver, who has worked for Lyft and Uber for 12 years, said she now has to drive 12 hours a day to make ends meet. She blamed autonomous vehicles for the decline in fares.
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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.
"Right now I take 20% of the rides in the city," Alajendra said. She only wished to give her first name. "So, it's affecting me a lot. I stay on the streets sometimes more than 20 or 30 minutes waiting for a ride, and just looking around, there's three of them, Waymos, waiting for a trip."
Uber and Lyft drivers aligned with the California Gig Workers Union, along with freight and delivery members of Teamsters Joint Council 7, are calling for Waymo and other self-driving car companies to be removed from city streets, citing public safety concerns.
City leaders want answers around December power outage response
What they're saying:
Autonomous vehicles like Waymo’s are now a common sight on San Francisco streets. But during a major PG&E power outage on Dec. 20, several vehicles stalled at intersections across the city, creating disruptions.
City leaders held a hearing Monday to determine what went wrong.
"San Franciscans deserve to know what exactly happened on the streets in December 2025," said San Francisco Supervisor Bilal Mahmood.
First responders said they struggled to move the stalled vehicles. In at least one case, emergency personnel waited 53 minutes on hold before reaching a Waymo representative.
"We experienced significant delays in connecting with Waymo. Our dispatchers were placed on hold for long periods of time and made a total of 31 calls to the Waymo first responder hotline," said Mary Ellen Carroll of the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management.
Waymo standoff in San Francisco goes viral, company responds
A trio of driverless Waymo cars involved in what's being described as a "standoff" has gone viral on social media.
Waymo promises improvements
The other side:
Waymo officials said the vehicles are programmed to treat nonfunctioning traffic signals as four-way stops, as human drivers are trained to do. However, in some situations, the vehicles seek remote confirmation from a human operator before proceeding.
During the outage, the company said, there were too many requests for assistance, causing the vehicles to stop.
"Absolutely we did not perform well in that regard on the December 20th PG&E outage," said Sam Cooper of Waymo. "The steps we've taken since then is ensure that we have a line of communication always open for large-scale events," said Sam Cooper of Waymo."
Waymo has said it has updated the software in its vehicles to better navigate intersections when traffic signals are not working. The company also plans to update its training for first responders on how to handle stalled Waymo vehicles.
Broader safety concerns
Dig deeper:
Safety concerns have also prompted public protests. In January, demonstrators gathered to question the accountability of autonomous vehicle companies.
"Why is it these vehicles are allowed on the road when they don’t follow DMV regulations?" said Steve Zeltzer, a labor activist. "If you’re a human driver you get cited, your license can be taken away. What is the accountability for these Waymo robot taxis? There is no accountability."
Opponents say the changes announced by Waymo are not enough and argue stricter oversight is needed as autonomous vehicles continue expanding in U.S. cities.
Meanwhile, in Austin, Texas, video surfaced showing a Waymo vehicle blocking a street that first responders were attempting to access during a mass shooting scene.