Waymo appears to pause San Francisco service amidst power outage
Waymo has temporarily paused its robotaxi service in San Francisco following a local power outage. The company is making adjustments to its operations while monitoring conditions, as power issues have previously caused vehicle stalls in the city.
Why it matters
This highlights the ongoing operational challenges and safety concerns regarding autonomous vehicle reliability during infrastructure failures in urban environments.
Waymo said it’s making “temporary adjustments” to its robotaxi service in San Francisco amidst a power outage that appears to have affected around 7,000 PG&E customers in the city.
According to a screenshot posted on social media , Waymo is telling SF customers that service is “temporarily paused” and that “freeway routes are unavailable.”
When TechCrunch reached out to the Alphabet-owned company for comment, a spokesperson said in a statement, “We are making temporary adjustments to our service while we monitor local conditions. We know riders depend on us, and we will return to normal operations as soon as possible.”
This isn’t the first time power outages have caused issues for Waymo. A number of Waymo vehicles stalled on city streets during a blackout in December , and a similar incident paralyzed traffic during a Golden Gate Bridge fireworks show on the Fourth of July.
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